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NICARAGUA; 



PEOPLE, SCENEBT, MONUMENTS, 



INTEROCEANIC CANAL. 



Sr MKBOL'S OKialNAL NA^'S AND 1 1. 1- L" ST U ATI O.N S. 

BY E. G. SQLMKR. 

itutmtt rtmOan Brum mttm Rum 




NEW yoilKi 
I). APPLETON k CO., PUBI.ISHEBS. 

M D C C C L 1 I . 




Entered, according to AotH>f Ccmgreai^Q the year 1801, by 

E. G. SQUIER, 
in the Clerk*f Offloe of the District Court of the Southern Diitriot of New York. 



i S. 



MttWTrr fii -vVr^iiwusui 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 



INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER L — Central America; its Geographt; Topoora- 

PHT ; Clucate, etc., 1-21 

CHAPTER IL — ^Nicaragua; its Extent, Topoorapht, Climate, 
Population, Aorkjultdral and Mineral Productions, 
iTa, Era, 21-48 

NARRATIVE. 

CHAPTER L— The Brig Francis— Departure from New York— San 
Domingo— The Coast of Central America— Monkey Point — Shrewd 
Speculations — A Naked Pilot — Almost a Shipwreck — S^ Juan de 
Nicaragua — ^Music of the Chain Cable — A Pompous Official — Delivering 
a Letter of Introduction — Terra firma again — "Naguas" and "Guipils" 
— ^The Town and its Laguna — Snakes and Alligators — Practical Equality 
— Celt V8, Negro— A Wan Policeman — The British Consul General for 
Musquitia — " Our House" in San Juan — An Emuete — Pigs and Policy 
— ^A Viscomte on the Stump — A Serenade — Mosquito Indians — ^A Pic- 
ture of Primitive Simplicity, 49 

CHAPTER IL— The Port of Saajjuan de Nicaragua ; its Position ; 
Climate ; Population ; Edifices of its Inhabitants ; its Insects ; The 
Nigua; The Scorpion, etc.; its Exports and Imports; Political Condi- 
tion ; Importance, Present and Prospective ; Seizure by the English, 
etc — Mout^f the River San Juan — The Colorado Mouth — The Tauro 
— ^Navigation of the River — Bongos and Piraguas — Los Marineros — 
Discovery and Early History of the Port q£^n Juan, . . .71 

CHAPTER nL— The Magnates oLSan Juan— Captein Samuel Shepherd 
— Royal Grants — ^Vexatious Delays — Imposing Departure — ^Entrance 
of the River San Juan — " Peeling " of the Marineros — Character of the 
Stream: — ^The Juanillo— An Immemorial Stopping-place — ^Bongos and 



VI CONTENTS. 

their Equipments and Stores — Meals — Esprit du Corps among the 
Boatmen — The " Oracion " — Queer Caprices — Medio — Our Accommo- 
dation — ^A Specimen Night on the River — Morning Scenes and Impres- 
sions — Bongo Life — The Colorado Mouth — Change of Scenery — The 
Iguana — A Solitary Establishment — Tropical Ease — The Rio Serapiqui — 
Fight between the Nicaraguans and the English — " A famous victory " 
— The Rio San Francisco — Remolino Grande — Picturesque River 
Views — The Hills and Pass of San Carlos — Thunder Storms — The 
Machuca Rapids — Melchora Indians — Rapids of Mico and Los Valos — 
Rapids of the Castillo — Island of Bartola — Capture by Lord Nelson — 
The " Castillo Vicjo," or Old Castle of San Juan—" A Dios California I " 
— Ascend to the Ruins — Strong Works — Capture of the Fort by the 
English in 1780 — Failure of the Expedition against Nicaragua ; a Scrap 
of History — Passage of the Rapids — Different Aspect of the River — A 
U oole Eaglo i2tinCIJlMiig»>in Six Days — The Port of San Carlos — 
.Great Lake of Nic^ ragijft^^jiind at San Carlos — The Commandante — 
Heartv Welcome — Novel Scenes — Ancient Defences — View from the 
Fort — The Rio Frio — The Guatosos Indians — A Paradise for Alligators 
— Some Happy Institutions of theirs, 85 

CHAPTER IV. — San Carlos — Dinner at the Commandante's — Introduc- 
tion to "Tortillas y Frijoles" — A Siesta — News of the attempted Revo- 
lution — ^Anticipating events, and what happened to the Commandante 
after we left — Departure under a Military Salvo— View of San Carlos 
from the Lake-^Lake Navigation — Card Playing — Gorgeous sunset — 
A Midnight Storm — San Migueleto, and the " Bath of the Naides" — 
Primitive Simplicity — A Day on the Lake — " El Pedernal " — A Bath 
with Alligators — An " EmpnHm"^^ Tiiiil nl Miuliviniij and grf^nMnr^- 
cess — Second Night on the Lake— Tho J^olcanoes of Mor ",fth»^^", ^^«»^**- 
tepec, and Madeira — Volcanic Scenery — The Coast of Chontales — The 
Crew on PoHtics — "Timbucos" and " Calandracas," or a Glance at 
Party Divisions — Arrival at " Los Corals" — Some account of them — 
Alarming News — ^A Council of War — Faith in the United States flag 
— ^The Island of Cubi — More News, and a Return of the " Embacho" — 
Distant View of Granada — Making a Toilet — Bees — Arrival at the 
Ruined Fort of Granada — How they Land there — Sensation amongst 
the spectators — ^Entrance to the City — The Abandoned Convent of San 
Francisco— The Houses of the Inhabitants — First Impressions — Sol- 
diers and Barricades — Thronged Streets — SeHor Don Frederico Derby- 
shire — " Our Host " — A Welcome — Official Courtesies — Our Quarters — 
First Night in Gkanada, ...... 119 



CONTENTS. Vii 

GSHAPTER V. — Reception-Day — Qeneral Respect and Admiration for 
the United States — An Evening Ride — The Plaza— Churches— Hospi- 
tal — ^The "Jalteva" — Deserted Municipality— Mehincholy Results of 
Faction— The Arsenal — Natural Defences of the City — " Campo Santo" 
— An Ex-Director and his "Hacienda" — Shore of the Lake in the 
Evening— Old Castle— The "Oracion"— An Evening Visit to the 
Senoritas — Opera amidst Orange Groves — "Alertas" and "Quien Vi- 
vas?" — The Granadinas at Home — An Episode on Women and Dress 
— Mr. Estevens — "Los Malditos Inglesas" — A Female Antiquarian 
Coadjutor — " Cigaritas" — Indian Girls — Countrymen — An American 
"Medico"— Native Hospitality to Strangers— The Ways Infested by 
"Facciosos"— An American turned Back — Expected assault on the 
City, and Patriotic Resolves " To Die under the American Flag" — A 
note on Horses and Saddles— Visit to the Cacao estates of the Malac- 
cas — The Cacao Tree — Day-Dreams —An Adventure Almost — Grievous 
Disappointment — Somoza, the Robber Chief— Our Armory— Feverish- 
ness of the Public Mind — Life Under the Tropics — A Frightened 
American, who had " seen Somoza," and his Account of the Interview 
— Somoza's Love for the Americans — Gk)od News from Leon — Ap- 
proach of the Greneral-in-Chief, and an Armed American Escort — Con- i 
dition of Public Affairs — Proclamation of the Supreme Director — 
Decrees of the Government — Official Announcements, and Public Ad- 
dresses — How they Exhibited the Popular Feeling — Nicaraguan Rhe- 
toric — Decisive Measures to put down the Insurgents — General call to 
Arms — Martial Law — Publication of a " Banda" — Great Preparations 
to Receive the G«neral-in-Chief and his " Veteranos'* — No further fear 
of the "Facciosos" — A Break-neck Ride to the "Laguna de Salinas" — 
A Volcanic lake — Descent to the water — How came Alligators there ? 
— Native "Aguardiente" "not bad to take" — Return to the City — A 
Religious Procession — The Host — Increasing Tolerance of the People — 
Preparations for " La Maniana." ..... 145 

CHAPTER VI. — Discovery of Nicaragua in 1522 ; Gil Gonzales de Avila, 
and his march into the Country ; Lands at Nicoya ; Reaches Nicaragua 
and has an Interview with its Cazique ; Is closely questioned ; Marches 
to Dirianga, where he is at first received, but afterwards attacked and 
forced to retreat ^ Peculiarities of the Aborigines ; Their wealth ; Arri- 
val of Francisco Hernandez de Cordova ; Ho subdues the country, and 
founds the cities of Granada and Leon ; Return of Gonzales ; Quarrels 
between the Conquerors ; Pedro Arias de Avila, the first Governor of 
Nicaragua; His death; Is succeeded by Roderigo de Contreraa; His 



^ii CONTENTS. 

son, Hernandez de Contreras, rebels again Spain ; Meditates the entire 
independence of all Spanish America on the Pacific ; Succeeds in car- 
rying Nicaragua ; Sails for Panama ;• Captures it ; Marches on Nombre 
de Dios, but dies on the way ; Failure of his daring and gigantic Pro- 
ject; Subsequent Incorporation of Nicaragua in the Vice-Royalty of 
Guatemala — The City of Granada in 1665, by Thomas Gage, an English 
Monk; Nicaragua called "Mahomet's Paradise j" The Importance of 
Granada at that Period; Subsequent Attack by the Pirates, in 1668; 
is Burnt; Their account of it; The Site of Granada; Eligibility of its 
Position; Pnj^nla finn | f! n|Ttiijprfii> * Foreign Merchants; Prospective \ 
Lnportance — Ltdce Nicaraga€tY^ Its Discovery and Exploration; Inter- ] 
esting account of it by the Chronicler Oviedo, written in 1541 ; Its # 
Outlet Discovered by Captain Diego Machuca ; The wild beasts on its/ 
Shores ; The Laguna of Songozana ; Sharks in the Lake, their Rapacity \ 
Supposed Tides in the Lake ; Explanation of the Phenomenon, . 181 1 

CHAPTER VIL— Narrative Continued— Arrival of the General-in-Chief 
— The Army — Fireworks by Daylight — Prisoners — Interview with 
(Jen. Munoz— Arrival of the Californian Escort — "Piedras Antiguas" — 
The Stone of the Big Mouth— "El Chiflador"— Other Antiquities- 
Preparations for Departure — Carts and "Carreteros" — ^Vexatious De- 
lays—Departure — How I got a Q^)od Horse for a Bad Mule on the 
Road — Distant View of the Lakes — The Freedom of the Forest— Arri- 
val at Masaya — Grand Entree — Deserted Plaza— A Military Execution 
— A "Posada" — "Hijos de Washington" — Disappointed Municipality — 
We escape an Ovation— Road to Nindiri — Apostrophe to Nindiri I — 
Overtake the Carts—" Alguno Fresco" — Approach the Volcano of 
Masaya— The "Mai Pais"— Lava Fields — View of the Volcano — ^Its 
Eruptions— "El Inferno de Masaya," the Hell of Masaya — Oviedo's 
account of his Visit to it in 1529 — Activity at that Period — The Ascent 
— The Crater — Superstitions of the Indians — The Old Woman of the 
Mountain — The Descent of the Fray Bias Castillo into the Crater, 197 

CHAPTER VIII —Magnificent Views of Scenery—" Relox del Sol"— 
John Jones and Antiquities — An " Alarm ;" Revolvers and a Rescue — 
Distant Bells — Don Pedro Blanco — ^Managua — Another Grand Entree — 
Our Quarters — Supper Service — ^Enacting the Lion — Virtues of Aguar- 
diente — An "Obsequio," or, Torch-light Processjpn in honor of the 
United States — A National Anthem — Night with the Fleas — Fourth of 
July and a Patriotic Breakfast — Saint Jonathan — Leave Managua — Ma- 
tearas — ^Privileges of a " Compadre" — Lake of Managua — A magnificent 
View — The Volcano of Momotombo^A Solitary Ride — Geological 



CONTENTS. IX 

Puzzle — ^Nagarote — The Posada — ^Mules abandoned — A Sick Califor- 
nian — Dinner at a Padre'a — The Santa Annita — ^Virtues of a piece of 
Stamped Paper — ^A Storm in the. Forest — ^Pueblo Nuevo — ^Five Daugh- 
ters in Satin Shoes — Unbroken Slumbers — ^Advance on Leon — Ax- 
usco — A Fairy -Glen — The great Plain of Leon — ^A " touch" of Poetry — 
Meet the American Consul — A Predicament — Cavalcade of Reception — 
New illustration of Republican Simplicity — El Convento — A Metamor- 
phosis — The Bishop of Nicaragua — Forest, Miss Clifton, Mr. Clay — 
Criticism on Oratory — ^Nine Volcanoes in a row — Distant View of the 
Great Cathedral— The City — ^Imposing Demonstrations — The Grand 
Plaza — A Pantomimic Speech and Reply — The Ladies, "G^d bless 
them!" — House of the American. Consul — End of the Ceremonies — 
Self-congratulations thereon— A Serenade — Martial aspect of the City — 
Trouble anticipated — Precautions of the Government, . . 225 

CHAPTER IX.— The City of Leon— Originally built on the Shores of 
Lake Managua — Cause of its Removal — Its present Site — Dwellings of 
its Inhabitants — Style of Building — Devastation of the Civil Wars — 
Pablic Buildings — The Great Cathedral — Its Style of Architecture; In- 
terior ; Magnificent View from the Roof^The " Cuarto de los Obis- 
pos," or Gallery of the Bishops — The University — The Bishop's Pal- 
ace — " Casa del Gobiemo'^ — ** Cuartel General" — The Churches of La 
Merced ; Calvario ; Recoleccion — Hospital of San Juan de Dios — Stone 
Bridge^ — Indian Municipality of Subtiaba— Population of Leon — Pre- 
dominance of Indian Population — Destruction of Stocks — Mixed Races 
—Society of Leon — the Females ; their Dress— Social Gatherings : the 
" Tertulla" — How to " break the Ice" and open a Ball — Native Dances — 
Personal cleanliness of the People — General Temperance — "Aguardi- 
ente" and "Italia"— Food— The Tortilla— Frijoles— Plantains— The 
Markets — Primitive Currency — Meals— Coffee, Chocolate, and " Tiste" 
— Dulces — Trade of Leon, ..... 257 

CHAPTER X.— The Vicinity of Leon— The Bishop's Baths— Fuenta de 
Axusco — " Cerro de Los Americanos" — A Military Ball and Civic Din- 
ner — General Guerrero — Official Visit from the Indian Municipality of 
Subtiaba — Simon Roque — A Secret — Address and Reply — ^Visit Re- 
turned — TheCabildo — An Empty Treasury — "Subtiaba, Leal y Fiel" — , 
Royal Cedulas — Forming a Vocabulary — "Una Decima" — ^The Indians 
of Nicaragua ; Stature ; Complexion; Disposition; Bravery; Industry; 
Skill in the Arts — Manufacture of Cotton — ^Primitive Mode of Spin- 
ning — ^Tyrian Purple — Petatea and Hammocks — ^Pottery — " Aguacales," 
and "Jicoras" — Costume — Ornaments — ^Aboriginal Institutions — ^The 



X CONTENTS. 

f 



f Conquest of Nicaragua — ^Enormities practiced toward the Indians — 
Present Condition of the Indians — The Sequel of Somoza's Insurrec- 
tion — ^Battles of the Obraje and San Jorge — Capture and Execution of 
Somoza — ^Moderate Policy of the Government — Return of General 
Munoz — ^Medals — ^Festival of Peace — ^Novel Procession — ^A Black 
Saint, ........ 277 

CHAPTER XI.— Antiquities— Ancient Stetue in the Grand Plaza^ 
Monuments on the Island of Momotombita in Lake Managua — Deter- 
mine to visit them — The Padre Paul — ^Pueblo Nuevo and our Old Host- 
ess — A Night Ride — " Hacienda de las Vacas" — A Night amongst the 
" Vaqueros" — The Lake — Our Bongo — ^Visit the Hot Springs of Momo- 
tombo — Attempt to reach one of the "Infernales" of the Volcano — Ter- 
rible Heat — ^Give up the Attempt — Oviedo's Account of the Volcano^ 
" Punta de los Pajaros" — Momotombita — Dread of Ratttesnakes — The 
Monuments — Resolve to remove the largest — A Nest of Scorpions — 
Tribulation of our Crew — Hard work — ^How to ship an Idol — Virtues 
of Aguardiente — " Purchasing an Elephant" — ^More " Piedras Antiguas" 
— ^The Island once Inhabited — Supposed Causeway to the Main-land — 
A Perilous Night Voyage — DiflScult Landing — Alacran, or Scorpion 
Dance — ^A Footrmarcli in the Forest — The " Hacienda de los Vacas" 
again — Scant Supper — Return to Leon — The Idol sent, via Cape Horn, 
to Washington — ^A Satisfied Padre — Idols from Subtiaba — ^Monstrous 
Heads — ^Visit to an Ancient Temple — Fragments — ^More Idols — Indian 
Superstitions — "El Toro" — ^Lighting on Two Legs — A Chase afler 
Horses — Sweet Revenge—" Capilla de la Piedra" — Place of the Idol — 
The Fray Francisco de Bobadilla — ^How he Converted the Indians — 
Probable History of my Idols — The Ancient Church " La Mercedes de 
Subtiaba" — Its Ruins — " Agarrapatas" — ^Tropical Insects — Snakes and 
Scorpions versus Fleas and Wood-ticks — ^A Choice of Evils, . 301 

CBLA.PTER XIL— Amusements in Leon— Cock Fighting— " Patio de Los 
Gallos"— Decline of the Cock-pit— Gaming — Bull Baiting — ^Novel Rid- 
ing — " ^na Sagrada Funcion," or Mystery — A Poem, and a Drama — 
"Una Compania de Funambulos," or Rope Dancers — Great Anticipa- 
tions — A Novel Theatre — The Performance — "La Jovena Catalina" 
and the "Eccentric Clown, Simon" — "Tobillos Gruesos," or Big 
Ankles"— " Fiestas," and Saints' Days— The "Fiesta" of St Andrew- 
Dance of the Devils — ^Unearthly Music — All-Saints* Day — A Carnival 
in Subtiaba — An Abrupt Conclusion, .... 329 

CHAPTER XIIL— A Sortie from Leon- Quesalguaque— El Estero de 



CONTENTS. Xi 

Dona Paula — The "Monte de San Juan"— Summary way of disposing 
of "Ladrones"— "El Tigre," Jaguar, or Ounce, Its Habits; How 
Hunted— The "Lion," or Pumar— The " Coyote"— Posultega— A Speci- 
men Padre — Sobrinas — Chichigalpa — Poised Thunder-storm — The Ora- 
don— Hacienda of San Antonio — Chinandega — a Challenge — ^El Viejo 
—Familiar Fixtures — ^An Enterprising Citizen and his Tragic Fate — A 
Decaying Town — Mules vs. Horses — Visit to the Haciendas — An Indigo 
Estate, and a Mayor Domo— Fine View — The Sugar Estate of San 
Geronimo — ^Bachelor Quarters and Hacienda Life — A Fruit Garden — 
The Bread Fruit — Sugar-mills, and the Manufacture of Aguardiente — 
A Sinful Siesta — Visit From the Municipality — " Una Cancion" — Chi- 
nandega by Daylight — Realejo— Port and Harbor — The Progress 
of Enterprize — The Projected New Town of Corinth — Return to 
Leon, ........ 345 

CHAPTER XIV.— The Priesthood in Nicaragua— Decline in the In- / 
fluence of the Church — Banishment of the Archbishop — Suppression of 
the Converts — ^Prohibition of Papal Bulls — ^Legitimization of the Chil- 
dren of Priests — The Three Abandoned Convents of Leon — ^Padre Car- 
tine, the last of the FrancisoAns — ^Reception, or Clock-room — The Padre's 
Pets ; His Oratory ; Private Apartments ; Workshop — A Skull and its 
History — The Eglesia del Recoleccion — The Padre as a Landlord ; As 
a Painter ; As an Uncle ; And as Negociator in Marriage — An Auspi- 
cious Omen — Death of the Vicar of the Diocess of Nicaragua — His Obse- 
quies — A Funeral Oration — Priestly Eloquence — An Epitaph — General 
Funeral Ceremonies — Death as an Angel of Mercy — ^Burial Practices — 
Capellanias ; Their Effects, and the Policy of the Government in Re- 
spect to them — Popular Bigotry and Superstition — An Ancient Indul- 
gence — ^The Potency of an Ejaculation — Remission of Sins — Penetencias 
—Rationale of the Practice — Novel Penances — Turning Sins to Q^od 
Account — Gk)od from Evil — System of the Padre Cartine — The Diocess 
of Nicaragua, and its Bishop — General Education — Public Schools — The 
Universities of Leon and Granada — A Sad Picture, . . 369 

CHAPTER XV. — ^Visits to the capital city, Managua — ^Legislative As- 
sembly ; How to procure a Quorum — Executive Message — Ratification 
of Treaty with the United States — Antiquities — Lake of Nihapa — 
Huertas — Dividing Ritlge — Traces of Volcanic action — Hacienda de 
Granado — An Extensive Prospect — Extinct Crater — Ancient Paintings 
on the CUffs — Symbolical Featliered Serpent — A Natural Temple — 
Superstitions of the Indians — Salt Lake — ^Laguna de Las Lavadoras — 
A Courier — ^Three Months Later from Home — The Shore of Lake Man- 



zu 



CONTENTS. 



ajnia — Aboriginal Fisheries — Ancient Carving — ^Population of Managua 
— Resources of Surrounding Country — Coffee — ^Inhabitants — ^Visit Tipi- 
tapa — Sunrise on the Lake — ^Hot Springs — Outlet of Lake — Mud and 
Alligators — ^Dry Channel — ^Village of Tipitapa — Surly Host — Salto de 
Tipitapa — ^Hot Springs again — Stone Bridge — ^Face of the Country — 
Nicaragua or Brazil Wood — ^Estate of Pasquel — Practical Communism 
— ^Matapalo or Kill-tree — ^Landing and Estero of Pasquel or Panaloya — 
Return — ^Depth of Lake Managua — Communication between the two 
Lakes — ^Popular Errors, ...... 397 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



UTEOORAPHT BT BAROITT AND MAJOR ; WOOD ENORA VINOS BT J. W. ORB : FROM 
ORIODCAL DRAWINGS, OHIEFLT BT JAMES m'dONOUOH. 

ORIGINAL MAPS, 
m. piOB. 

L Map of Nicaragua, part of Honduras, and Mosquito Shore, 

VoLL, 2 

2. Map of the Plain of Leon, and the Bay of Fonseca, VoL ii, , 239 
Z. Sectional Map of Rio Tipitapa, connecting Lakes Nicaragua 

and Managua, Vol i., 419 

i. Detailed Map of the River San Juan, from Actual Survey, 

showing its channels, soundings, etc.. Vol, ii., . . . 217 

5. Map of the Port of San Juan do Nicaragua, VoL ii., . . 217 

6. 3£ap of the Isthmus between the Mouth of the Rio Sapoa on 

Lake Nicaragua, and the Gulf of Bolanos on the Pacific 

Vol. iL, 217 

7. Vertical Section of the country between the Port of San 

Juan and the Eatero Real de Golfo de Fonseca, Vol. iL, . 217 

8. Section between mouth of Rio Lajas, on Lake Nicaragua, and 

the port of San Juan del Sur, on the Pacific, VoL ii., . 217 

9. Section between mouth of Rio Sapoa and Gulf of Bolanos, 

VoLii., 217 

OCTAVO PLATES. 

L Frontispiece. Views of the probable Terminii of the proposed 
Interoceanic Canal, viz. ; View of San Juan de Nicaragua, 
from the Habor ; View of the entrance to the Gulf of Fon- 
seca, from the Island of Tigre, 

2. Castillo Viejo on River San Juan, VoL i., . . . . 107 

3. View of the town of San Carlos at the head of the River San 

Juan, VoL L, 122 

4. Ancient Fort of Granada, and the Volcano of Momobacho, 

VoLL, 136 



XIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



no. 

6. Lake of Managua, and Volcano of Moniotombo, VoL i., 

6. Indian House, Pueblo Nuevo, VoL i., . 

7. Great Cathedral of Leon, VoL L, . 

8. View from tlie Cathedral of Leon, embracing the Church of 

Mercedes, and Volcano of El Viejo, VoL i., 

9. Inner Court of " Our House," Leon, VoL L, . 

10. Ruins of First Christian Church in Nicaragua, VoL I, 

11. Ancient Idol of Subtiaba, Vol. L, . 

12. Town of Chichigalpa, VoL i., .... 

13. Profile of the Volcanic Chain of the Marabios, with eleva- 
tions of the principal volcanoes of Central America, VoL i., 

14. Painted Bocks of Managua ; two fiigures, VoL ii., 

15. Painted Rocks of Managua; six fiigures, VoL ii., . 

16. Frontispiece of Volume II., Ancient Idol from Island of Pen 

sacola, 

17. Ancient Idol from Pensacola, VoL ii., 

18. Do. do. do. do. 

19. Embarcadero, Island of Zapatero, Vol il, 

20. Idols from Zapatero; two fiigures, 

21. Do. do. 

22. Do. do. 

23. Do. do. 

24. Idols, 

25. Indian Antiquities, six figures, 



PAOB 

234 
242 
263 

265 
277 
325 
321 
351 

419 
409 
409 



36 
37 
50 



338 



WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 

1. Arms of Nicaragua, 

2. " Our House," San Juan, VoL 1., 

3. Hut of Mosquito Indians .... 

4. The Bongo " La Granadina," 

5. View on the San Juan Biver, 

6. Sentinel's Box, Castillo Viejo, 

7. The Iguana, .,..., 

8. The Plantain Tree, 

9. Piedra de la Boca, 

10. Nicaragua Cart, 

11. Agricultural Instruments, .... 

12. Plan of Central American House, 

13. Ancient MetlaU, or Grinding Stone, 

14. Ornaments of same, 



TiUe. 

65 

69 

90 

103 

110 

118 

143 

203 

206 

224 

261 

272 

273 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XV 



TAom 

15. Machete y Toledo, 276 

la Parocliial Church of Subtiaba, 282 

17. Primitive Spinning, two Figures, 285 

18. Spinning, from a Mexican Manuscript^ .... 28G 

19. Primitive Weaving, 287 

20. Pottery and Carving of Indians^ four Figures, . . . 289 

21. Indian Girl, in full Costume, . . . • . . 290 

22. Idol from Momotombita, No. 1, 302 

23. Do. do. No. 2, 312 

24. Front View of same, 313 

25. Colossal Head from Momotombita, . . . . . 314 

26. Idol from Subtiaba, No. 1, 318 

27. Do. do. No. 2, two views, . . . . 319 

28. Do. do. No. 3, 320 

29. Do. do 327 

30. Street View in Leon, 339 

31. Nicaraguan Plow, 343 

32. View of Chinandega, 365 

33. Lake Nihapa, an extinct Crater, 406 

34. Ancient Carving in wood, 413 

35. Idol at Managua, 414 



VOLUME II. 



36. View in the " Quebrada de las Inscripciones," 

37. Figures, 

38. View of the Church of San Francisco, Qranada^ 

39. The Bongo "La Cariota," . 

40. The Stone of Sacrifice, Zapatero, 

41. Plan of Monuments at Zapatero, 

42. Idol at Zapatero, Na 9, 

43. Do. do. No. 12, . 

44. Do. do. No. 13, . 

45. Inscribed Rocks at Zapatero, 

46. Burial Vases from Ometepec, two fiigures, 

47. Ornamented Burial Vases from Zapatero, 

48. Copper Mask, do. do., 

49. Frog in Verd Antique, 

50. The Paroquet, 



25 
26 
29 
41 
56 
57 
61 
63 
64 
66 
67 
88 
89 
89 
126 



XVI ILLUSTRATIONS. 

no. Paob 

51. The Toucan, 160 

52. Crimson Crane, . . 168 

53. Volcano of Coseguina, 163 

64. Mountain Scenery in Honduras, 175 

55. Las Tortilleras, - . . 195 

56. Mouth of the Rio Lajas, and view of Volcano of Ometepeo, 235 

57. Idol found at Palenque, 337 

58. Terra Cotta Idol, . • 338 

59. Leg of Vase, 339 

60. Human Head, Terra Gotta, 362 



PREFACE. 



Ths cliaracter in wbicli I visited Nicaragua, of an accred- 
ited Representative of the United States, made me the wit- 
ness of many extraordinary demonstrations of respect and 
affection for my country, and the recipient of numerous 
marked attentions, private and popular. It enabled me to 
see the country under a very favorable aspect, enlivened 
€[\rerywhere by cheerful and enthusiastic assemblages, which 
the presence of an Envoy of the Great Republic of the 
North, had inspired with passionate hopes of their own 
future glory and prosperity. And as it is my object to give 
a true picture, not only of the country, but of the character, 
condition, and relations of the people, I have not hesitated 
to refer to many scenes and occurrences, in which, as a 
public man, I received singular marks of favor. With the 
judicious reader I am not afraid to trust myself in these 
descriptions; I am willing even to risk the imputation of 
vanity, if I can thereby awaken a true sympathy in the 
hearts of the American people, for their simple, but unfor- 
tunate friends and allies in Central America ; or contribute, 
however slightly, to impress the great truth upon this nation, 



Xviii FBEFAOE. 

that the United States is the natxiral head of the great 
American fiumly, and that it is a duty which it owes, alike 
to God and man, to extend its advice, its encouragement, 
and its support to the oppressed and struggling Bepublics of 
Central America. 

Yet, with all the latitude which I have ventured to give 
myself in these respects, there are many things that the un- 
official visitor might mention and remark upon without 
impropriety, to which, for obvious reasons, I cannot refer. 
Nor can I, in the following pages, make anything more than 
a very limited use of my journal, which, whatever may be 
its value hereafter in illustrating the transition period of the 
country in question, is, fix>m necessity, full of references to 
political transactions and events, upc^ which it is not my 
present purpose to speak ; and to pi|k)ns whose names it 
would not be delicate or proper to intro1||ce into these pages. 

I have divided my work into five paits or divisions, as 
follows : 

L A Geographical and Topographical Aooount of Nica- 
ragua, and of the other States of Central Ajnerica, with 
observations on their climate, agricultural andf mineral pro- 
ductions, and general resources. 

n. A Narrative of my residence in Nicaragua, containing 
an accoimt of my explorations of its aboriginal monuments, 
notices of the people, their habits, custqpis, and iQQdes of 
life, descriptions of scenery, etc. This narrative miij^t have 

been greatly amplified, but it is believed that it w^iiitiiins 
enough to enable the reader to form a very accurat?vlea of 



PBEFACE. -giy 

tfaegreidi sfttaral beauty of tlie oountry, and of the character 
asd condition of its people. 

ITL An Account of the Geography and Topography of 
Nicaragua, as connected with the proposed Interoceanic 
Canal; a EUstorical Sketch of the various negociations in 
r&^pect to that enterprize.; and also some speculations as to 
the probable commercial and political results of its construc- 
tion. In this part, I have written without fear or conceal- 
ment, and with no design of subserving the interests of any 
set of men. I regard the proposed wo;rk as one of vital 
importance to our country, which should be kept free from 
every taint of mere speculation, and be pursued in entire 
good faith by those who may connect themselves with it. 
Any delinquency, in this respect, is treachery to the interests 
alike of Nicaragua and the United States, which it would be 
the duty of every American to expose to public reprobation. 
The fetcts contained in this part may be relied on, as being 
generally, and in all important respects, entirely accurate. 
Should there be any errors, it must be remembered that my 
means of investigation were imperfect, and that nothing 
more than approximate accuracy can be reached, except by 
actual and detailed surveys. 

IV. Notes on the Aborigines of the country, with such 
original and accumulated information respecting their geo- 
graphical distribution and relations, languages, institutions, 
customs and religion, as shall serve to define their ethnical 
position, in respect to the other semi-civilized, aboriginal 
nations of this continent. 



PBEFACE. 

V. An Outline of the Political History of Central America 
since its independence of Spain. Previous to 1889 Nica- 
ragua constituted a part of the Bepublio of Central America. 
In that year the Bepublio was dissolved. But the history of 
Nicaragua, both before and since that event, has been so in- 
volved with that of the coimtry at large as to preclude its 
separate consideration. I have, therefore, been compelled to 
trace the outlines of the history of the entire country, in order 
to show the causes which have reduced the State in question 
to its present unfortunate condition. Some of the most con- 
spicuous actors in the political drama which has been enacted 
in Central America are still living ; but, however much I 
regret to arraign their policy, or denounce their principles, I 
regret still more that this severity is demanded by every 
consideration of truth and impartiality. I have, neverthe- 
less, avoided, as far as possible, any allusion to individuals, 
living or dead, and confined myself to a general recital of 
events. It would be a most instructive task to fill up these 
outlines, and trace, minutely, the operation of the causes 
which led to the destruction of the Central America Repub- 
lic — a task which I may consider it proper to undertake, 
unless it should be performed by abler hands. But if, in 
this outline, I shall succeed in showing that the distractions 
of the Spanish American Republics, are not so much to be 
ascribed to the insensate passions of their people as to foreign 
intervention, and the unfavorable conditions which surround 
them, and that there is, in all of them, and particularly in 
those of Central America, a large body of devoted, patriotic, 
and liberal men, who are struggling against the popular 



i 



ignoraiioe and superstition, and the machinations and iin- 
scmpdlous policy of monarchists and oligarchists, at home 
and abroad, to vindicate the principles of self-government 
and free institutions, and who deserve, and should receive, 
the support and encouragement of the American people and 
Cbvemment, — then I shall have the satis&ction of accom- 
plishing the object which I have in view, in presenting this 
outline, to the exclusion of other matters of perhaps more 
general interest. 

It was mj original purpose t<^ have embodied, in the form 
of a Supplement, an accoimt of fbat part of Nicaragua which 
has acquired notoriety imder the denomination of the " Mos- 
quito Shore ;" as also of its savage inhabitants, the relations 
of Qreat Britain with them ; the pretensions which she has 
set up on their behalf, and the aggressions which she has 
oonmiitted upon %weak and unoffending state, under pretext 
of supportiil them. I had also proposed to present a sketch 
of the political relations of Nicaragua with the United States 
for the past three years, with a statement of their present 
condition. But both these subjects involve matters of a 
personal and controversial character, and might lead to dis- 
cussions which I do not care to have started in connection 
with the present work. Should circumstances, or self-vinj 
ca tion re quire it, they will find their way before the public 
in another, and probably more appropriate form. 

The Maps, Plans, etc, contained in this work, are from 
my own hand, while the engravings are chiefly from the 
original drawings of Mr. Jas. McDonough, who accompanied 
me to Central America in the capacity of artist. They are 



1 



mril PRBFAGS. 

fidthfal copies from nature, in which aocnracy has been eon- 
suited, rather than artistical effect. 

In the chapters on the Aborigines of Nicaragua, I have 
presented a brief vocabulary, obtained by Mr. Julius Froebel, 
in the district of Chontales, which I have named, suggestively, 
ChoTidal. Since those chapters passed into the hands of the 
printer, I have obtained information, showing conclusively, 
that this is the language of the Woolwa Indians, who have 
their seats on the head waters of the Rio Escondido or 
Blewfields River. 



\ 



7 



V 



NICARAGUA. 



L-INTRODUCnON; GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 

E-PERSONAL NARRATIVE; ANTIQUITIES, ETC. 
nL-PROPOSED IKTEROCEANIC CANAL 
DT.-ABORIGINAL INHABITANTa 

V.-OUTLINE OP POLITICAL HISTORY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

CETTRAL AMERICA. — ITS GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY, 

CLIMATE, ETC. 

The conquest of Asia or the acquisition of its commerce 
lias been, from the earliest periods of history to the present 
tour, the aim of the several generations of men to whom, 
from their valor or their successful ambition, succeeding 
ages have accorded the title of heroic. Between the noma- 
dic hordes on the steppes of Tatary, the dwellers in Cash- 
ffierian valleys, the daring mountaineers of the Caucasus, the 
swarthy myriads of Indostan, and the population of that 
enigmatical Chinese empire (into which the ferocity of the 
Tatars penetrated further than all the blandishments of civil- 
^tion), on the one hand, and the more western nations 
who have laid claim to a higher social order, to more com- 
prehensive faculties of combination, and were possessed of 
Plater greed of rule or aggrandisement, on the other, a 
Perpetual war has existed for more thousands of years, 
perhaps, than popular, belief has allotted to the duration 
^^ history. The might of Assyria exhausted itself in the 
Tatar and Indian conquests of Nimroud and Semiramis. 
The Achaian republics sought, in the subjugation of the Per- 
fflan Empire, to assert their sway over^the traditional nursery 



4 INTRODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

of inankind. Alexander, son of Ammon, led his armies to 
the Indus and the very feet of the Himalahs; and not 
until Rome directed the ambition of the world upon the west 
of Europe and the shores of Carthage and Egypt, did the 
tide of conquest ebb from the gorgeous but hapless East. In 
after times, when the dust of tradition rested on the ruins of 
the Roman empire, when the fabric of social order and polity, 
founded upon it, had begun to crack and crumble before the 
enterprise of schismatic republics and rival empires, the 
dream of Alexander was revived. The republics of Venice 
and Genoa struggled in rivalry for the carrying trade in Per- 
sian and Indian shawls, and the gems and spices which 
brighten the earth and sweeten the air from the Caspian to 
Cape Comorin. And as the sway of empire passed from ter- 
ritory to territory and from race to race over the surfece of 
Europe, to the mightiest amongst them fell ever, by the con- 
quest of her rivals, that unfailing source of wealth and power, 
" the Eastern Tradcit 

In fact, the ability of using or abusing the resources of the 
largest continent of the earth has been, in all modern history, 
the test of supremacy amongst the nations boastful of civiliza- 
tion. As Venice and Genoa wasted themselves in the strife of 
faction, Holland and Spain sprang into rivalry on the shores 
of India. Portugal also mixed in the contest, and fixed her 
factories and her garrisons on the shores of the southern 
Asiatic peninsula. The conquest and plunder of the Indian 
nations seemed the one object of European empires, when the 
overshadowing power of the papacy had yielded somewhat 
to Lowland burghers and ambitious France. With the great- 
ness of the latter counter, a new rival entered the arena, and 
the rule of Mazarin, ^d the overthrow of the |Mj4((l ^^" 
blesse by Louis XIV- found for it an additionaKMa for 
conquest in Pondichek*y and the islands of the Eastern Ar- 
chipelago. But the d^jjrfgis of Louis te Q|a.nd were blasted 
with his death. Fraq^ fell into the imbecile hands of his 



"the bastebn trade." 5 

amorous successor, and the conquests of the French arms in 
India passed to the more vigorous and not more scrupulous 
hands of the Islanders, who had beaten down in succession 
the manufacturing monopolies of Holland, had destroyed 
the maritime ascendancy of Spain, and won in the New 
World an undying lustre for their arms. 

Then sprang into a great and vigorous existence the 
maritime power of England. Gibraltar, the Cape of Good 
Hope, ports of protection from storm and foe, and ports 
of supply and outfit all the way to the great East, — fell 
successively into her possession ; and the flag, which in the 
days of Ferdinand and Isabella was cooped up within the 
limits of England, soon flew in triumph from, the fortresses 
of Calcutta and Madras. The rule of smaller or older rivals 
vanished from the feted East. To a company of London 
merchants, greedy of gold and profitable dominion, and never 
encumbered by scruples of justice or dispositions of mercy, 
were leased out for plunder and servitude the then almost 
numberless and unconquered pepples of Hindustan. Gradu- 
ally, but jjurely, from the factories on the coast spread out 
the webs of ambition and avarice. Through intrigues and 
wars, kingdom after kingdom fell under the control of 
England ; and the work commenced by Olive and Hastings, 
and continued by Wellington, we see completed in our own 
day, on the banks of the Sutlej, and at the feet of the mighty 
Himalahs, by the vengeful victories of a Gough and a Na- 
pier. But these conquests were not perfected by Eng- 
land without rivalry. When France, having recovered, by 
the necessary infliction of a revolution, from the state of un- 
natural weakness and premature decay to which the vices 
of monarchy had reduced her, assumed once more the atti- 
tude of an empire, defiant, haughty, and strong, the great 
embodiment of her militant republicanism, Napoleon, flung 
himself upon the shores of Asia, determined, like Alexan- 
der, to carry his standards in triumph from the deserts of 



6 INTRODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

the Bedouin to the mouth of the Ganges. But on the fortress 
of Acre his magnificent designs were wrecked ; and back on 
Europe, discomfited, and broken into fragments, rolled the 
remnants of that ambitious army which essayed once again 
to change the fortunes of the world by arms. With the &11 
of the Imperial Soldier passed away the terror of invasion 
from the English empire of the East. But with his fell 
arose another and even mightier power in the distant North, 
which, by the same agency of force, when craft shall fail, 
aims to assume the sway of all mankind, — ^whose grim flag 
is now reflected in the waters of the Mediterranean, and is 
poised jvith wavering fortunes on the summit of the Caucasus. 
Between the two great powers of the Old World, England 
and Eussia, a contest now lies for the dominion of the East ; 
a contest which involves, if not the very existence of the 
first, at least her predominance among nations. 

But the destinies of men are not, nor have they ever been, 
ruled wholly by arms. For three hundred years agencies 
have been at work, seen in part only in fantasy by the 
dreamer, unseen in their grand magnificence until our day, 
which have so far tended to deprive the Old World and all 
its empires of the sway of Asia, and bestow its commerce 
and its wealth upon a younger world, a newer empire, and a 
more equitable policy. We should lose one great lesson of 
history, if we failed to attribute the future greatness of the 
United States, even more than its present position, to that 
ambition of gain and that commercial enterprise which im- 
pelled the Spaniards, the Hollanders, and the English, three 
centuries ago, into a contest of war and adventurous seaman- 
ship, the one to retain, the other to acquire possession of the 
centres of the Oriental trade. Speed and ease of transport, 
amongst maritime nations, must ever be the conditions of 
commercial supremacy ; and hence was undertaken the search 
for that " Passage to the East" which had been the day- 
dream of the enthusiast, and the ambition of rival empires— 



" THE EASTERN TRADE." 7 

th&t search which led to the discovery of a New World by 
Columbus, and to the voyages of Cabot and Vespucius, of 
Baleigh and Verrazzano, from the river of Hudson southward 
to the Cape of Storms, and northward to the yet impenetra- 
ble fields of Arctic ice. But though these adventurous cap- 
tains failed in their cherished hope of discovering a passage 
through the American Continent by water, to the descendants 
of the upright and daring Republicans who sought in a new 
world an escape from the injustice and perfidy of the old, an 
overruling but unseen hand has accorded the success denied 
to other and older nations. That hand has drawn a line of 
eternal division between the men and the institutions, the 
tyrannies and superstitions, which crushed mankind from the 
fidl of Rome to the middle of the sixteenth century, and all 
succeeding history and time. The judgment seems to have 
been recorded, that they who should dare to bring to this 
continent the systems or ideas of the old, should themselves 
ahare the doom of the savages which they supplanted, and 
with them pass away for ever. So, though knights of Spain 
built castles strong and high upon the shores of both great 
oceans, though Spain transferred all her force and bigotry to 
the mountains and plains of Central and South America, 
though colonial empires north and south were established, 
though the doctrines of absolutism and systems of feudalism 
struggled over the entire continent for predominance, all 
have passed away like the dew before the sun ; and to the 
wise and simple Republicans, made up of all nations, equally 
opposed to superstition and to tyranny, has fallen the dominion 
of the New World, will fall the control of the Old. 

To us is given, in this modern time, the ability, if we 
choose to exercise it, of acquiring the rule of the East, of 
placing at defiance alike the menaces and power of England 
and Russia, and of transferring into our unarmed hands that 
passage for which Columbus strove in vain, those eastern 
conquests for which Alexander was deified, that power in 



8 INTRODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

Asia which won an infamous immortality for Clive and 
Hastings, that vast and incalculable trade upon which is 
mainly based the maritime power of England, hitherto the 
mightiest empire among men. The fortune of war has 
planted our eagles on the Pacific : across the entire continent 
from ocean to ocean, for twenty-five degrees of latitude, our 
Eepublic is supreme. Our trim-built fairies of the deep dance 
over either ocean, and in conjunction with those giant steamers 
which push aside the waves along the shores of half the con- 
tinent, sweep in the trade of Europe on one hand, and on 
the other bring to the mouth of the Sacramento the treasures 
of the Oriental world. To gird the world as with a hoop, to 
pass a current of American Eepublicanism, vivifying dead 
nations and emancipating mankind, over the continents of 
the earth, it needs but that one small spot should be left free 
from foreign threats and aggression, to exercise for itself its 
inherent sovereign rights. The key of the continent, destined 
to unlock the riches of two hemispheres, and which eager 
nations even now are aiming to snatch, with felon hand, from 
its rightful possessors, lies between the States of Mexico and 
the disrupted Republic of Colombia. It is only by preserv- 
ing its freedom and its territory inviolate, and enabling and 
encouraging it to open an inter-oceanic highway, that the 
Republican world can ever hope to reclaim from tyranny and • 
servitude the myriads of Asia,that Americans can ever hope 
to reach that commercial and national pre-eminence to which 
their elastic institutions and their individual superiority 
amongst races of lesser vitality, invites and enables them to 
aspire. 



That small spot of earth — small as compared with the 
gigantic continent, great in reference to its geographical posi- 
tion and future destiny — ^is known as Central America. 



THE PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. 9 

• 

From the period of The Discovery, in the fifteenth century, 
when Balboa, crossing its narrowest isthmus at Darien, rushed, 
buckler and sword in hand, into the waters of the South 
Sea, and claimed its almost limitless shores for the crown of 
Castile and Leon, imtil the present hour, that country has 
been regarded with a constantly increasing interest; an 
interest which the requirements of commerce, and the recent 
acquisitions and newly-developed resources of our own coun- 
try on the Pacific, have not only augmented but turned to a 
practical direction. Columbus, not yet comprehending the 
importance of his own discoveries, coasted along its eastern 
shores from the Gulf of Honduras to the Bight of Darien, in 
anxious hope and vain endeavor to find a passage whereby 
the treasures of the Indies might be poured into the lap of 
Spain. The same rich prize, augmented in value by the 
lapse of time and the force of events, is still oflFered to the 
enterprise of the world. Asia, with its vast populations and 
increasing wants, furnishes a market worthy of the competi- 
tion of nations. New and progressing States have sprung 
into existence on the Pacific coast of the American continent, 
which are destined, in the course of time, to attain a pitch of 
greatness rivalling that of the proudest nations of Europe. 
The Australian and Polynesian islands, by the double pro- 
• cess of colonization and civilization, have already risen into 
importance, and now enter largely into the commercial and 
political calculations of the maritime world. A new empire 
is laying deep its foundations on the coast of New Holland, 
and it requires no extraordinary prescience to discover that 
it will soon take rank amongst independent nations. In 
short, the great tides of civilization, for three centuries mov- 
ing majestically eastward to India, and westward to the New 
World, from the European centre, now meet in the waters 
of the Pacific ; they have encircled the earth ; and the " short 
and easy passage to the Indies" which Columbus sought, 
fix)m a leading desideratum, has became the great necessity 

2 



10 INTBODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

of the age. This alone is wanting to secure for ever Ameri- 
can preponderance in the Pacific, — ^that placid sea where 
steam navigation is destined to achieve its greatest triumphs, 
and American enterprise and American Kepublicanism their 
most imposing results. 

Geographical discovery early demonstrated the feet that 
to this short and easy " passage to the East," the American 
continent presents an unbroken barrier, extending from the 
realms of northern ice to the stormy cape of the south, 
lashed by the turbulent Antarctic Sea. From that period 
the daring of man has contemplated the Titanic enterprise 
of cutting through the continent, and opening an artificial 
water communication between the two great oceans. Within 
twenty years after The Discovery, the three routes which 
by common consent have come to be regarded as the only 
feasible ones for such communication, had been indicated.' 

* Gk>mara, one of the earliest writers on America, in common with the 
best informed men of Spain, judged that the junction of the Atlantic with 
the Pacific was by no means an impracticable task. A translation of his 
brief chapter, entitled " The Possibility of a Shorter Passage to tlie Maluc- 
cas," is subjoined. " The voyage from Spain to the Maluccas, (Malay 
Islands,) by the Straits of Magellan, is so long and hazardous, that having 
had frequent occasion to discuss the subject with men well acquainted 
ivith the Indies, as well as with other persons conversant with history 
and of an inquiring turn of mind, I have heard of another good though 
extensive passage, which, if it were made, would be no less honorable 
than profitable to the maker. The passage would have to be opened 
across the main land from one sea to the other, by whichever might ap)- 
pear most profitable of these four Unes ; either by the river Lagartos, 
which, rising in Chagres, at the distance of four leagues from Panama, 
over which space of territory they proceed in carts, flows to the sea-coast 
of Nombre de Dios ; or by the channel through which the Lake of Nica- 
ragua empties itself into the sea, up and down which large vessels sail, 
and the lake is distant only three or four leagues from the sea ; by either 
of these two rivers the passage is already traced and half made. There 
is likewise another river which flows from Vera Cruz to Tecoantepec, 
along which the inhabitants of New Spain tow and drag barks from one 



THE PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. 11 

All of these are comprehended in what is properly Central 
America ; and that which seems to offer peculiar advantages 
for this purpose, if indeed it is not the only one which has 
the merit of practicability, passes through the very centre of 
this interesting country. Indeed, in respect of geographical 
position, it almost realizes the ancient idea of the centre of 
the world. Not only does it connect the two grand di- 
visions of the American continent, the northern and the 
southern hemispheres, but its ports open to Europe and 



to the other. The distance from Nombre de Dios to Panama is sev- 
enteen leagues, and from the Gulf of Uraba to the Gulf of San Miguel 
twenty-five, which are the two most difficult lines. There are mountains, 
it is true, but there are likewise hands ; let but the resolve be formed to 
make the passage, and it can be made. If inclination be not wanting, 
there will be no want of means : the Indies, to which the passage is to be 
made, will supply them. To a King of Spain, with the wealth of the In- 
dies at his command, when the object to be attained is the spice trade, 
that which is possible is, in fact, easy. It appeared an impossibihty, and 
reaUy was one, to unite Brindez to Belona by a causeway over twenty 
leagues of the sea ; yet Pyrrhus and Marcus Varro wished and attempted 
it, in order to go by land from Italy to Greece. Nicanor began to open a 
canid of more than a hundred leagues extent by land, without reckoning 
rivers, for the sake of transporting merchandise from the Caspian to the 
Pontic or Black Sea ; but having been put to death by Ptolemy Ceraunus, 
his generous and princely design was abandoned. Nitocris, Sesostris, 
Psammeticus, Darius, Ptolemy, and other kings, projected the junction of 
the Red Sea with tlie Nile by means of a canal, in order that perfumes, 
spices, and medicines might be conveyed straight from the ocean to the 
Mediterranean; but being apprehensive lest the sea should inundate 
Egypt by bursting the aqueducts, or an over supply of water, they were 
deterred from the undertaking; and because the sea might be detrimental 
to the river, without which Egypt would be nothing. If the passage of 
which I have been speaking was accomplished, the navigation to the 
Maluccas would be shortened by one-third of the distance, since ships 
proceeding thither would always sail by the Canaries under the equator, 
in a warm latitude, within the dominions of Spain, and without fear of 
meeting with a foe ; nor would our Indies derive less advantage from it, 
once merchandise would be conveyed to Peru and other provinces in the 



12 INTRODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

A&ica on the east, and to Polynesia, Asia, and Australia on 
the west. Here, too, the continent shrinks to its narrowest 
limits, and its great mountain barriers subside into low and 
broken ranges. The adventurous traveller, standing beneath 
the sky of an eternal summer, with the exuberance of tropical 
verdure around him, may look down upon the restless 
Atlantic, the great highway of the commerce of the Old 
World, on the one hand, and upon the broad Pacific, rolling 
its unbroken waves over half the globe, on the other. These 
conditions unerringly point out this country as the theatre 
of great events, and will give it a prominence in the future 

same ships which brought it from Spain, and much expense and trouble 
be thus saved." — La, Isiaria de las Indias, fol. Iviii. 

Herrara, Historiographer to the King of Spain, writing of the events of 
1527, refers to these routes and the project of inter-oceanic communication, 
in these words : 

" The lake of Nicaragua is remarkable for its extent, the towns and 
islands in it, for ebbing and flowing, and for that, being three or four leagues 
from the South Sea, it empties itself into the North Sea. Those who 
desired to please the Emperor, seeing him intent on finding a way to the 
Spice Islands, said that since there was no strait in those parts — ^that is, 
between the Qvlf of Uraha and the drain of Nicaragua — a passage might 
be made by any of four ways which they proposed ; the first along the 
drain of said lake, (the San Juan,) on which large boats go up and down, 
though there are some dangerous falls, and then making a canal along 
these four leagues from the lake to the South Sea ; and second, along the 
river de Lagartos, (Chagres,) which rises five or six leagues from Panama, 
where the way being all plain, as we have said before, a canal might 
also be cut for the sea and river to meet; the third, by way of Vera Cruz 
to Tecoantepec, on which, in New Spain, they convey boats from one se|i 
to the other ; fourth, the path from Nombre de Dios to Panama, where, 
they asserted, though there were mountains, it was no difficult matter to 
make a way. They added, that from the Chdfof Uraha to San Miguel, 
there were only twenty-five leagues ; and though it would be a difficult 
matter, yet nothing was too much for the King of Spain's power, and 
this would open a much shorter way to the Spice Islands through his 
own dominions, without any opposition." — History of America, voL iv. 
p. 14. 



GEOOBAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 18 

history of the world, second to no other equal extent of the 
earth's surface. 

Glancing at the map, we find, at the isthmus of Tehuante- 
pec on the north, the Gulf of Mexico approaching to within 
two hundred miles of the Western Ocean ; the waters of the 
river Coazacalco, which flows into the former, interlocking 
with those of the Chicapa, flowing into the latter. This line 
affords certain facilities of transit which cannot fail to be 
used by the inhabitants of the great Mississippi Valley, to 
whom it offers the easiest and speediest mode of communica- 
tion with the western coast of the continent. They will 
prove themselves strangely negligent of their present, and 
blind to their prospective interests, if they do not secure 
permanently the control of that isthmus. Below this point 
the continent widens, embracing the high table lands of 
Guatemala upon the west, and the broad plains of Tobasco, 
Chiapas, and Yucatan upon the east. The Gulf of Hondu- 
ras, however, closes around this section upon the south-east, 
and again narrows the continent to less than two hundred 
miles. The country intervening between it and the Pacific 
nevertheless loses its elevated character, and constitutes two 
great valleys, through which the Motagua finds its way to 
the Atlantic by the Gulf of Honduras, and the Lempa flows 
to the Western Ocean. Still lower down, and passing the 
great transverse basin of Nicaragua, is the well-known nar- 
row isthmus of Panama or Darien, over which the tide 
of European migration, within a period of three hundred 
years, has twice poured its floods, — once upon Peru, and once 
upon the glittering shores of California. 

Nor are the topographical features of Central America less 
remarkable than its geographical. In its physical aspect 
and configuration, it has very justly been observed, it is an 
epitome of all other countries and climates of the globe. 
High mountain ranges, isolated volcanic peaks, elevated 
table-lands, deep valleys, broad and fertile plains, and exten- 



14 INTBODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

sive alluvions, are here found grouped together, relieved by 
large and beautiful lakes, and majestic rivers, the whole 
teeming with animal and vegetable life, and possessing every 
variety of climate, from torrid heats to the cool and bracing 
temperature of an eternal spring. The great chain of the 
Cordilleras here, as in South America, runs close along the 
Pacific coast, but in places is interrupted, and assumes the 
form of detached ranges and isolated elevations, of groups or 
knots of hills, between which the streams from the interior 
wind their way to either ocean. As a consequence, the prin- 
cipal alluvions border on the Gulf of Mexico and the Carib- 
bean Sea. Here rains Ml in greater or less quantities for 
the entire year ; vegetation is rank, and the climate is damp 
and proportionably insalubrious. The trade winds blow 
from the north-east ; and the moisture with which they are 
saturated, condensed on the elevated parts of the continent, 
flows down towards the Atlantic. The Pacific slope is there- 
fore comparatively dry and healthful, as are also the elevated 
table-lands of the interior.* 

Topographically, Central America presents three marked 
centres of elevation, which have, to a certain extent, fixed its 
political divisions. The first is the great plain in which is 
situated the city of Guatemala, and which is nearly six thou- 
sand feet above the sea. Here the large rivers, Usumasinta 
and Tobasco, flowing northward through Chiapa and Tobas- 
co, into the Gulf of Mexico, take their rise, — their sources 
interlocking with those of the Motagua or Gualan, running 
eastward into the Gulf of Honduras, and with those of the 
small streams which send their waters westward into the 

* " Experience," says Mr. Baily, " shows that the places which are most 
prejudicial to health in Central America lie on the northern coast and 
the Mosquito shore, where endemic and intermittent fevers are notunfre- 
quent The Pacific coast is exposed to a temperature equally high, but 
is much more salubrious, and seldom visited by epidemic or contagious 
diseases." 



TOPOGRAPHY — CLIMATE. 15 

Pacific. Another higli plain occupies the centre of Hondu- 
ras, and extends into the northern part of Nicaragua, from 
which radiate a hundred streams, north and east into the 
Caribbean Sea, and south and west into the great lakes of 
Nicaragua and the Southern Ocean. Among these the most 
remarkable are the Eio Escondido (called by the English 
"Blewfields river") the river Vanks, Coco, or Segovia, the 
Soman, Poyais, and Guyapi, upon the eastern slope ; the 
Lempa, La Paz, Nacaome, and Choluteca, upon the western. 
Intervening between this and the third great centre of eleva- 
tion in Costa Eica, is the basin of the Nicaraguan lakes, with 
its verdant slopes and gently undulating plains. The nu- 
cleus of the Costa Rican elevation is the volcano of Cartago, 
which towers in its midst. Here the Cordilleras resume their 
general character of a great unbroken mountain barrier, 
but soon subside again into low ridges on the isthmus of 
Panama. 

These peculiarities of configuration will explain the end- 
leas variety of climate to which we have alluded, and which 
is nowhere more remarkable than in Central America. Sit- 
uated between 8° and 17° north latitude, were it not for 
these features, the general temperature would be somewhat 
hotter than that of the West Indies. As it is, the climate of 
the coast is nearly the same as that of the islands alluded to, 
and exceedingly uniform ; modified somewhat by the shape 
and position of the shore, and by the proximity of the moun- 
tains, as well as by the prevailing winds. The heat on the 
Pacific coast is not, however, so oppressive as on the Atlan- 
tic ; less perhaps because of any considerable difference of 
temperature, than on account of the greater dryness and 
purity of the atmosphere.* 

• Dunlap, a very good authority when his personal feelings have no 
opportunity of being exhibited, has the following correct observations 
upon the respective climates of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. " On the 
south-west (Pacific) coast the rains commence regularly in the beginning 



16 INTRODUCTION — CENTRAL AMERICA. 

In the northern part of the state of Guatemala, and whal 
is called Los Altos, the Highlands, the average temperature 
is lower than in any other part of the country. Snow some- 
times falls in the vicinity of Quezaltenango, the capital of this 
department, but disappears immediately, as the thermometer 
rarely, if ever, falls to the freezing point. In the vicinity of 
Guatemala, the range of the thermometer is from 56° to 80°, 
averaging about 72° of Fahrenheit. Vera Paz, lying between 
Guatemala and Yucatan, is nearly ten degrees warmer, and 
the coast from Belize around the Gulf of Honduras, embrac- 
ing the ports of Santo Tomas and Izabal, to Omoa and 
Truxillo, is still hotter, and very unhealthy. The State of 
San Salvador lies wholly on the Pacific. It is smaller than 
any of the other states, and better populated. It is less ele- 
vated than either Guatemala or Honduras, and its general 
temperature is probably higher. The heat, however, is 

of May ; and, with the exception of a short intermission (in some seasons 
only) of about twenty days, towards the end of July and the beginning of 
August, continue till the month of October, and in some parts and sea- 
sons till the middle of November. During the rest of the year rain is almost 
unknown, a slight shower, not sufficient to lay the dust, occurring very rare- 
ly. On the north-east (Atlantic) coast the rains, on the contrary, continue 
nearly all the year, with a short and uncertain intermission of three or 
four months ; the dryest period being from June to October, and the wet- 
test from October to May. As may be supposed, the consequence of this 
is, that while the interior and south-west coast possesses an almost equal 
temperature during the whole year, the north-east coast is extremely sultry 
during the summer months ; and is also found to be very unhealthy on ao- 
cunt of the superabundant moisture ; while the rest of the republic, with 
some local exceptions, is perhaps more healthy than any other country with- 
in the same degreesof latitude." — Travehin Central America^ (1846), p. 267. 
Mr. Baily observes that " the temperature of Central America may be 
said to be relatively mild, and, taken altogether, undoubtedly salubrious. 
The degree of absolute heat from the coasts to the interior dififers consid- 
erably ; but only in a few places on the former is it found unfavorable to 
general health." Mr. Baily estimates the average heat of the interior at 
68° FaL, and of the coast at 82° to 84°. 



TOPO0BAPHY — CLIMATE. 17 

never oppreesiye, except at a few points on or near the coast, 
88 for instance, Sonsonate, La Union, and San Miguel. The 
latter place is very closely shut in by mountains, and is not 
reached by the prevailing winds, to which circumstance 
its high temperature and proverbial imhealthiness is mainly 
to be ascribed. Honduras, as its name implies, (plural of 
HondurOj "depth,") has a very diversified surfece. The 
coasts upon both oceans are low ; but, as we have already 
said, the country in the interior is elevated, and there the 
climate is really delightful; the average temperature at 
Tegucigalpa and Comayagua, the principal towns, being 
about 75°. The depaHment of Segovia, in Nicaragua, bor- 
ders on Honduras, and has a like surface and temperature. 
The principal part of Nicaragua, however, is dijQFerent in aU 
respects, and has a topography and climate peculiarly its 
own. These will form the subject of a separate chapter. 
It will be sufficient to observe here, that the lakes of Nica- 
ragua form a great inland basin, with broad and undulating 
slopes, relieved only by steep volcanic cones, and a few 
ranges of hills along the shores of the Pacific ; and that, 
although the general surface is low, as compared with the 
other states of Central America, its climate is so favorably 
modified by a variety of causes as to be rendered not only 
agreeable, but quite as salubrious as that of any equal extent 
of country under the tropics. The population of Costa Kica 
is concentrated on the western or Pacific slope of the great 
volcano of Cartago ; and, as a consequence, any degree of 
temperature may be obtained, according to the elevation — 
fiom intense heat at the port of Punta Arenas to the con- 
stant spring of San Jose, or to the autumnal temperature of 
the belt above the ancient, earthquake-shattered capitol of 
Gartago. The eastern slopes of Costa Rica may be said to be 
uninhabited, and the coast from Chiriqui lagoon northward 
is low and unhealthy. Indeed, the entire Atlantic coast of 
Central America, embracing the whole of what is called the 

S 



18 INTBODUCnON — CBNTRAL AMERICA. 

Mosquito shore, is subject to the same r^narlc But yet 
there are points whioh are singularly exempt from disease, 
and where the inhabitants, for a radius of a few miles, enjoy 
general good health, while beyond these limits the evidences 
of insalubrity are unmistakable. This coast has, however, 
scarcely any inhabitants except a few squalid Indians of the 
Carib stock, of which the Moscos or Mosquitos, in conse- 
quence of certain eqxiivocal relations with Great Britain, are 
the best known. This ^^ nation," as it is called, ia a mongrel 
breed, crossed between negroes and Indians, in every degree 
of mixture. They are few in number, and have only a fic- 
titious importance ; for the mass of the Indians, inhabiting 
what is geographically known as the "Mosquito Shore," 
neither recognise them as their masters, nor maintain any 
relations with them. 

I have said that the porta of Central America open to Eu- 
rope and Africa on the one hand, and to Asia and Polyneaa 
and Australia upon the other. No country could be more 
fevorably situated for commerce. Guatemala has upon the 
east the ports of Belize, (now occupied by the English, in 
violation of treaty stipulations,) Santo Tomas, and Izabal ; 
Honduras, Cabo Caballo, Onioa, Coxenhole (island of Roatan,) 
and Truxillo; Nicaragua, Cape Gracias a Dios, Blewfields, 
and San Juan; Costa Kica, Matina, and Boca del Toro. 
Upon the Pacific are Golfo Dulce, Punta Arenas, and Caldera, 
in Costa Rica ; the bays of Culebra, Salinas, San Juan del 
Sur, Tamarinda, and Realejo, in Nicaragua; Amapala and 
San Lorenzo, in Honduras; La Unions, Jiquiliscoy Acajutla, 
Sonsonate, (or LaLibertad,) in San Salvador ; andlstapa and 
Ocus, in Guatemala. Sonsonate, Libertad, and Istapa are 
roadsteads rather than harbors. Acajutla may perhaps be 
called a roadstead, but the anchorage is partially protected 
by a long ledge of rocks called " Punta de los Remedies." 
The landing is therefore comparatively easy, and at low 
water entirely so. It should also be mentioned that the 



POBTS — LAKES — ^AREA. 19 

Pacific Ocean is much less turbulent than the Atlantic, so 

that vessels may load and discharge their cargoes with little 
difficulty, at all these points, for the greater part of the year. 

Besides the rivers of Central America, the principal of 
which have already been enumerated, there are a number of 
large and beautiful lakes, viz. : Nicaragua and Managua, in 
Nicaragua; Guija and Ylopango, in San Salvador; Golfo 
Dolce, Peten, Atitlan, and Amatitan, in Guatemala ; and Yo- 
jofi, in Honduras. Of these, the lakes of Managua and Nica- 
ragua alone are navigable. 

The area of Central America may be estimated, in round 
nombers, at 150,000 square miles, — very nearly equal to that 
of the New England and Middle States combined, and con- 
siderably greater than that of Peru or Chili, which are esti- 
mated to contain, the first, 109,000, and the second, 127,000 
square miles. 



CHAPTER II. 

NICARAGUA; ITS EXTENT, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, POPULA- 
TION, PRODUCTIONS, MINERALS, PORTS, ETC., ETC. 

The ancient Kingdom or Captain-Generalcy of Guatemala 
embraced the principal provinces or intendencies of Guate- 
mala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.* 
These threw off their allegiance to Spain in 1821, and follow- 
ing the great example of the British colonies in North 
America, assumed the rank of sovereign States. They sub- 
sequently united in a confederacy, called the " Eepublic of 
Central America," which, in consequence of internal dissen- 
sions, and the strife of factions, was practically dissolved in 
1839, since which time the several States have asserted and 
exercised their original sovereign powers, as distinct Eepub- 
lics. Three of the number, namely, Nicaragua, Honduras, 
and San Salvador, have recently taken steps towards a new . 

» I speak now of the principal provinces. For the convenience of gov- 
eniment and administration, other minor divisions were made, which 
were called provinces, and which had difierent limits at different periods. 
The large province, now State of Chiapas, and included in the Mexican 
Republic, belonged to the ancient Kingdom of Guatemala. Subsequently 
to the Independence, it was appropriated by Mexico, which country, 
under the brief rule of Iturbide, attempted to annex to itself the whole 
of Central America. A portion of what is now the district of Veragua, 
attached to New Granada, (it is also claimed,) belonged to the old king- 
dom of Guatemala. The country from north-west to south-east was there- 
fore not much less than four hundred leagues, or twelve hundred miles in 
length. 



22 INTBODUCTION — ^NICAHAGUA. 

confederation, have agreed upon certain bases of union, and 
have called a constituent assembly.' 

The Eepublic of Nicaragua, therefore, comprises the terri- 
tory which pertained to it as a province. Its boundaries are 
the Caribbean Sea upon the east, extending fix)m the lower 
or Colorado mouth of the San Juan Eiver, to Cape Gracias 
a Dios ; and upon the west, the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf 
of Nicoya to that of Fonseca, embracing about one-third of 
the latter. The northern boundary, separating it &om Hon- 
duras, follows the river Vanks, or Segovia, from its mouth 
at Cape Gracias a Dios, for about two-thirds of its length, 
thence runs in a right line, northwest by north, to the head 
of the Biver Roman, and thence, also in a right line, to the 
point already indicated on the Gulf of Fonseca. The south- 
em boundary, separating it from Costa Bica, runs in a right 
line from the mouth of the River Salto de Nicoya, or Alva- 
rado, emptying into the head of the Gulf of Nicoya, to the 
lower mouth of the San Juan river. The State is therefore 
embraced entirely between 83^ 20' and 87° 80', (from Green- 
wich, 6° 20', and 10° 30' from Washington,) west longi- 
tude, and between 9® 46' and 15° of north latitude ; and 
has an area of about 69,000 square miles, or about an equal 
extent of territory with the New England States, exclusive 
of Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

A claim to upwards of half of this territory has been set 
up by Great Britain, on behalf of the supposititious " King of 
the Mosquitos." The boundaries of this claim have been 
extended from time to time, but, as last defined, embrace 
the whole coast of Central America, from Cape Honduras to 
the northern Jimits of New Granada, as will appear in a 
subsequent chapter. A claim to another large section of 
Nicaragua, including the entire department of Guanacaste, or 



» The history of these events is reserved for the Chapters on the Politi- 
cal State of Central America, near the close of this work. 



TOPOGRAPHY — ^MOUNTAIN& 28 

Miooya, Qjiog between Lake Nicaragua and the Gulf of 
Nicoya,) as also to the entire country south of the lake just 
named and the Birer San Juan, has recently been asserted 
by Costa Bica. But neither the pretensions of Great Britain 
^ or Costa Bica are well founded, nor are they admitted by 
Nicaragua, or recc^ized by civilized nations. These are 
points which will be elucidated elsewhere. 

As we have already intimated, the geographical and topo- 
graphical features of Nicaragua are equally remarkable and 
interesting. If an accurate map of Central America existed, 
it would exhibit in this State a separation of the great chain 
of the Cordilleras into two divergent ranges, of less general 
height than the great ridge itself and having occasional par- 
tial interruptions. This divergence takes place in the north- 
em department of Segovia, one branch extending due south- 
east towards the Atlantic. Its outposts come down to the 
very shore, and ftrm prominent landmarks upon that coast. 
The range itself intersects the San Juan Eiver about fifty 
nules above its mouth. At its northern base, and nearly 
parallel to it, flows a large and long stream, the Bio Escon- 
dido, sometimes indicated in the maps as " Blewfields Biver." 
All the streams upon the southern side of the range fall into 
Lakes Managua and Nicaragua, or into the San Juan Biver. 
This range resumes its course upon the southern shore of the 
San Juan, but now bears nearly due south, connecting with 
the Pacific range in the elevated regions of Costa Bica. 

The Pacific range follows the general direction of the coast, 
sometimes rising into lofty volcanic cones, but generally sus- 
taining the character of a high ridge, and in places subsiding 
into low hills and plains. It preserves a nearly uniform 
distance from the sea of from ten to twenty miles ; conse- 
quently there are no considerable streams falling into the 
Pacific for the distance which it continues. It unites, as I 
have already said, with the eastern range in Costa Bica. Its 
course seems to have been the principal line of volcanic action, 



24 INTRODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

and extinct craters and beds of lava are to be met with, at 
short intervals throughout its length. The lofty cones of the 
Viejo, Santa Clara, Axusco, Momotombo, Momobachb, 
Ometepec, Madeira, Orosi, and Abogado, not to mention 
many others which may be regarded as belonging to this 
range, are prominent landmarks, and form remarkable fea- 
tures in the landscape.* 

The two ranges of the Cordilleras here referred to form, 
with their slopes, a great interior basin, not fax from three 
hundred miles long by one hundred and fifty wide, consist- 
ing in great part of broad, beautiful, and fertile plains. The 
waters of thig region fall into the lakes already named, 
of which the San Juan River is the only outlet. Many of 
the streams flowing into these lakes, especially from the 
north, are of considerable size, and furnish a supply of water 
which could not be sensibly affected by drains for artificial 
purposes. 

The lake Managua approaches, at its nearest point, to 
within four or five leagues of the Pacific, from which it is 
separated on the south by the range of hills already described ; 
but between its northern extremity and the sea there are 
only the broad and magnificent plains of Leon and El Conejo, 
in the rnicLst of which, with all the regularity of the pyramids, 
rise the volcanoes of Axusco, Telica, and El Viejo. 

Lake Managua is a beautiful sheet of water, of much larger 
size than has hitherto been represented. It is certainly not 
fiu* from fifty or sixty miles in greatest length by thirty-five 

' " In proceeding from Realejo southward and westward, there is, at a 
few leagues distant from the ocean, a range of hills, nowhere of gr^at 
height until they approach the confines of Costa Rica, where they are 
elevated into mountains of from 5,000 to 11,000 feet in height Between 
this ridge and the lake the land may be termed moderately level, and is 
not much broken ; th«* contrary is the case along the borders of Honduras, 
where the country is intersected by several lofty ridges, running in various 
directions." — Baily's Central America, p. 114. 



LAKE HANAGUA. 26 

in width, and ranges from two to ten and fifteen, and even 
&>rty fathoms in depth. The scenery which borders it is nn- 
sorpassed in beauty and grandeur. Upon the northern and 
eastern shore, lifting their blue rugged peaks one above the 
other, are the mountains of Matagalpa, merging into those of 
Segovia, rich in metallic veins. Upon the south and west 
are broad and fertile slopes and level plains, covered with 
luxuriant verdure, and of almost unlimited productiveness. 
The volcano of Momotombo, like a giant warder, stands out 
boldly into the lake, its bare and blackened summit, which 
no man has ever reached, covered with a light wreath of 
smoke, attesting the continued existence of those internal 
fires which have seamed its steep sides with burning floods, 
and which still send forth hot and sulphurous springs at its 
base. Within the lake itself rises the regular cone of Momo- 
tombita, so regular that it seems a work of art, covered with 
a dense forest, under the shadows and within the deep re- 
cesses of which, frayed by the storms of ages, stand the rude 
and frowning statues of the gods of aboriginal superstition, 
raised there long before European feet trod the soil of Amer- 
ica, and to which the mind of the christianized Indian still 
reverts with a mysterious reverence. 

The town or city of Santiago de Managua, which gives its 
name to the lake, and which is the place of the meeting of 
the Legislative Chambers of the State, is situated upon the 
south-western shore. Some considerable streams flow into 
the lake from the direction of Segovia, and the level of water 
undergoes very slight changes with the diflferent seasons. 
The town of Leon was first built on the shore of the north- 
western extremity of Lake Managua, at a place now called 
Moabita, but it was subsequently abandoned for. the present 
site, in the midst of the great plain of Leon. From this cir- 
cumstance the lake in question is sometimes called Lake 
Leon. 
Lake Nicaragua is nevertheless the great feature of the 
4 



26 INTRODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

country, and ia unquestionably, in all respects, one of the 
finest bodies of water on the continent, needing only to be 
made easy of access to become as £Eimous a resort of the lor* 
era of the grand and beautiful in nature, as any now known 
in the Old or New World. In common with Lake Managua, 
its size has been rather under than over-estimated. Mr. 
Baily calculated its greatest length at one hundred miles, 
and its greatest width at forty or forty-five miles. It is pro- 
l)ably nearer one hundred and twenty miles in length, by 
fifty or sixty in breadth. Upon its southern shore, near the 
Lead of the lake, is the ancient city of Granada, the most 
important commercial point in the republic. A few miles 
below Granada, and projecting boldly into the lake, is the 
extinct volcano of Momobacho, not far from five thousand 
feet in height At its base, in the lake, is a group of innu- 
merable small islands of volcanic origin, rising in the form 
of cones from twenty to one hundred feet, and covered with 
verdure. Some of them, upon which the soil has accumu- 
lated, are inhabited by Indians, and their thatched cottages, 
shadowed over by tall palms, and with a dense backgroimd 
of broad-leaved plantains, form the most picturesque objects 
which can be conceived. Upon the same shore with Granada, 
but forty miles distant, is the city of Nicaragua, or Bivas, the 
capital of a very large, fertile, and comparatively well-culti- 
vated district The remaining section of the southern shore 
of the lake has scarcely any inhabitants, except a few wild 
Indians, called " Bravos," who alternate between the moun- 
tainous district towards Costa Rica and the shore. The 
northern shore, called Chontales, is undulating, and well 
adapted to grazing. Here are a great number of cattle es- 
tates, some embracing many thousand head of cattle and 
mules. There are a number of considerable islands in the 
lake, the largest of which is Madeira or Ometepec, which is 
almost wholly inhabited by Indians. It abounds in numer- 
ous traces of aboriginal occupation and art, and is distin- 



LAKE NICARAGUA. 27 

goished by two immeoiise cones, visible fhjm every point of 
the lake and from the Pacific. These are called respectively 
Ometepec and Madeira. The cone of Ometepec is the most 
regular in outline of any which I have seen, and is, I think, 
the highest in the country. Its summit is generally en- 
veloped in clouds. The water of the lake, in most places, 
shoals gradually, but at some points vessels of the largest 
dass may approach close to the shore. The depth, except 
in the immediate vicinity of its outlet, is for all purposes of 
navigation ample, ranging from eight to twenty, and even 
forty fathoms. The prevailing winds are from the north-east 
(the direction of the summer trades on the coast,) and when 
the breeze is considerable, the waves of the lake roll with all 
the regularity and with much of the majesty of those of the 
sea. At such times, the surf upon the shore at Granada is 
nearly as high as it is, during a brisk wind, upon the beach 
at Newport or Cape May. 

The sole outlet to this great interior basin, and of the lakes 
just described, is the River San Juan, debouching into the 
Atlantic at the now well-known port of the same name. 
This river is certainly a magnificent stream, but its capabili- 
ties have been greatly exaggerated. It flows from the south- 
eastern extremity of Lake Nicaragua, nearly due east, to the 
Atlantic. Its length has been variously estimated, from sev- 
enty to one hundred and four miles. The first estimate is 
obviously too little. Mr. Baily calculated it at ninety miles, 
and he is probably not far from correct. 

The body of water which flows through this stream is at 
all times considerable, but it varies greatly in amount at dif- 
ferent seasons of the year. It is greatest during what is 
termed the " rainy season" in the interior, that is to say, from 
May to October, at which period the volume of water is 
nearly doubled. To this circumstance in some degree may 
be ascribed the wide diflference, in the statements of the 
depths and capacity of the river, made by different individuals. 



( 



28 INTRODUCTION — NICARAGUA. 

Several considerable streams enter the San Juan, Ihe prin- 
cipal of which are the San Carlos and the Serapiqui, both 
rising towards the south in the highlands of Costa Bica. 
The streams flowing in from the north are comparatively 
small, indicating that the mountains are not far distant in 
this direction, and that upon this side the valley is compara- 
tively narrow. The Serapiqui is ascended by boats to a 
point where the Costa Rica road (trail) commences. This is 
the route by which Costa Rica keeps up communication with 
the San Juan ; and to the point here named she is now en- 
deavoring to construct a road for mules, starting from San 
Jose, her capital. The banks of the San Juan, from the fort 
of San Carlos, at the outlet of the lake, to the Rapides del 
Toro, a distance of twenty miles, are generally low, and 
covered with palms, canes, and a species of high, coarse grass 
called gamalote. The river here sometimes overflows its 
shores, which for a considerable distance back seem to be flat 
and swampy. From the port of San Juan upwards to the 
point of the divergence of the Colorado, a distance of eighteen 
miles, the banks of the river present a corresponding appear- 
ance. In fact, the entire country from this point to the sea 
is flat, as is shown by the divergence of the Colorado, the 
Juanillo, and Tauro, and by the occurrence of numerous 
lagurias. It is nevertheless fertile, and capable of producing 
in the utmost luxuriance rice, sugar, and those other articles 
which require moist and fertile soils. From the Colorado to 
the Rapides del Toro, a distance of more than fifty miles, the 
banks of the river vary from six to twenty feet in height, 
and are densely wooded ; the forests coming down to the 
water's edge, forming an almost impenetrable wall of verdure. 
The passenger in the boats is so completely shut in by vege- 
tation, that it is impossible to discover what is the character 
of the back country. At intervals hills and high grounds 
are to be discerned, and sometimes these come down to the 
edge of the river. At the mouth of the San Carlos there are 



RIO SAN JUAN — CLIMATE. 29 

hills two thousand feet high, and the river is much contracted. 
The entrance of the passage between them, from the west, 
somewhat resembles the opening of the highlands of the 
Hudson from the north. 

The banks of the river are in some places rocky ; elsewhere 
they are fer from being as crumbling as those of the Ohio 
and Mississippi, and other rivers of the Western States of the 
Union. This is perhaps due, to some extent, to the roots of 
trees and plants which penetrate and bind the earth in all 
directions. The bed of the river may be regarded as essen- 
tially permanent ; it nevertheless abounds in islands, of which 
there are hundreds. Some pf these are low, and covered 
with gamalotCj or with canes ; but most are as high as the 
banks of the river, and wooded in like manner. 

The wddth of the river varies from one hundred to four 
hundred yards, and its depth from two to twenty feet. The 
average volume of water I should estimate at about that of 
the Connecticut River, or the Hudson above the reach of the 
tides. 

In respect of climate, little need be added to the remarks 
made on that subject in the preceding chapter. Upon the 
Atlantic declivity it is unquestionably warmer than in the 
interior, or upon the borders of the Pacific — more humid and 
more subject to rain. The country too, is low along the 
coast, with numerous lagoons and inlets, and consequently 
more infested with annoying insects and more subject to 
fevers. The climate, however, is more salubrious than would 
be supposed under the circumstances. This is illustrated by 
the fiwjt that in the months of March and April, 1849, a party 
of American emigrants, one hundred and thirty in num- 
ber, spent upward of six months at this point ; and notwith- 
standing the sudden transition from midwinter to tropical 
heats, not to mention inadequate shelter and indifferent food, 
not one was seriously affected by illness. The same party, 
it may also be mentioned, passed up the San Juan under the 



80 INTRODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

worst of circumstances, suflFering great exposures, and re- 
mained in the interior and upon the northern coast until the 
middle of August, with scarcely any sickness among them, 
and that little generally the result of carelessness or excesses. 
The valley of the San Juan once passed, the climate is un- 
surpassed in salubrity by any equal extent of territory under 
the tropics, or perhaps in the world. The year is divided, 
rather anomalously to the stranger, into two seasons — ^the 
wet and the dry — ^the first of which is called Winter and the 
latter Summer. The wet season commences in May and lasts 
until November; during which time, but usually near the 
commencement or close, rains of some days' duration are of 
occasional occurrence, and showers are common, but do not 
often happen except late in the afternoon, (commencing about 
four o'clock,) or in the night. They are seldom of long con- 
tinuance ; and often days and weeks elapse without a cloud 
obscuring the sky. From this it will be seen, that the popu- 
lar idea concerning the " rainy season" is erroneous. Proba- 
bly but little more than one half the amount of rain which 
falls in the latitude of New York during the same period 
falls, during these six months, in Nicaragua. Throughout 
this season the verdure and the crops, which, during the dry 
season, become sere and withered, appear in ftiU luxuriance ; 
the temperature is very equable, diflfering a little in different 
localities, but preserving great uniformity all over the coun- 
try, except in the mountainous regions. The range of the 
thermometer is from 78° to 88°, in rare instances sinking to 
70° during the. night, and rising to 90° in the afl^emoon. 
During the month of June, at Granada, the average height of 
the thermometer was 82° of Fah. ; in Leon, during the 
months of July, August, and September, 83°. Out of the 
sun, this weather would prove agreeable to most persons. 
There is almost constantly a cool and pleasant breeze blow- 
ing, for the most part from the north-east. The nights are 
delicious, and sleep is seldom, if ever, interrupted by heat 



DBY AND BAINT SEASONS. 81 

Far weeks together the thermometer marked 77^ at ten 
o'clock in the evening, and 76® at sunrise. During the dry 
season, in January, the temperature is less, the nights posi- 
tively cool, and occasionally the winds are chilling. The sky 
is cloudless, and trifling showers &11 at rare intervals. The 
fields become dry, cattle are driven to the hills and forests 
for pasturage, and the dust in the towns becomes almost in- 
supportable. It penetrates everywhere, permeating even 
through the tiled roo& in showers, and sweeping in clouds 
through the unglazed windows. Were it not for this, the 
dry season would not be pronounced* unpleasant It is es- 
teemed healthier than the wet season. 

The eflfect of the dry season is practically that of our 
winter, and it no doubt contributes efficiently to the general 
health of the country. During that period the exuberance of 
vegetable growth is checked, and the ephemeral vegetation, 
which, where the rain falls for the entire year, goes on accu- 
mulating, forming dense, dank jungles, the home and birth- 
place of malaria, is entirely dried up. At this period, also, 
nearly the whole country is burned over. The consequence 
is, that the forests, for a great part of the year, are nearly as 
open and penetrable as our own. The favorable influences 
of these conditions upon the general health can readily be 
understood.* 

' " The climate of all the state may be said to be good and healthy, but 
is dbtinguished, as is that of the other slates, by much variety. In the 
interior, or mountainous parts, the temperature is mild, as compared with 
the most populous portion of the territory adjacent to the sea-coast, where 
it is hot, and rather humid, owing to evaporation from the surfaces of two 
great lakes ; which, from the combined effects of a powerful sun, and a 
frej«h breeze from the north-east, blowing over them almost constantly, 
mu'it be great Both climate and temperature appear to be extremely 
favorable to the general health of natives as well as well as foreigners ; 
the exceptions in this important point being very few, and of trifling con- 
sequence in the injury which they occasion. The changes of season take 
place with the same almost undeviating regularity as in other purtd of 



82 



INTBODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 



Nicaragua is divided into six Departments, each of which 
has several Judicial Districts, as follows : 



DEPARTMENTS. 1 POPULATION. 


DISTRICTS. 


1. Meridional 

2. Oriental 

3. Occidental 

4. Septentrional of Matagalpa 

5. Septentrional of Segovia . 

6. Nicoya or Guanacaste . . 

1 


20,000 
95,000 

90,000 

40,000 

12,000 

7,000 


Rivas or Nicaragua. 
Acoyapa or Chontales, 

Granada, Masaya, and 

Managua. 
Leon and Chinandega 
Matagalpa. 
Segovia. 
Guanacaste. 

1 


Total 


264,000 



The population here given is the result arrived at, in round 
numbers, by a census attempted in 1846. It was only par- 
tially successful, as the people supposed it preliminary to 
some military conscription, or new tax. 

The principal towns of the State, with their estimated 
population, are as follows : — 



Leon, (the capital,) including 

Subtiaba 30,000 

Chinandega 11,000 

aiiiiandega Viejo .... 3,000 

Realejo 1,000 

Chichigalpa 2,800 

Posult^'ga 900 

Tclica 1,000 

Somotillo 2,000 

Villa Nuova 1,000 



Pueblo Nuevo 2,900 

Nagarote 1,800 

Souci 2,500 

Managua 12,000 

Masaya 15,090 

Granada 10,000 

Nicaragua 8,000 

Segovia 8,000 

Matagalpa. 2,000 

Acoyapa, 500 



It is a singular fact that the females greatly exceed the 
males in number. In the Department Occidental, according 
to the census, the proportions are as three to two. It is 
difficult to account for this disparity, except by supposing it 

Central America ; but the rains often continue a month longer hero, and 
the quantity during the season appears to be considerably more copious ; 
also casual showers, out of the periodical limit, are not unfrequent be- 
tween the lakes, and the lakes and tlie sea, affording much benefit to 
vegetation on the cultivated lands." — ^Bailt, 



POPIPLATION — ^DWELLINGS. 88 

to be the result of the civil commotions to which the country 
has been so long subjected. 

The civilized Indians of Nicaragua, and those of Spanish 
and negro stocks crossed with them, constitute the mass of 
the population. The white individuals of pure European 
stock are but a small part of the whole, and are nearly 
equaUed in number by those of pure negro blood. The en- 
tire population may be divided as follows : 

Whites, 25,000 

Negroes, 15,000 

Indians, 80,000 

Mixed, 130,000 

Total, . 250,000 

Most of these live in towns, many of them going two, four, 
and six miles daily, to labor in the fields, starting before 
day and returning at night. The plantations, " haciendas," 
"hattos," "huertas," "ranches," and " chacras," are scattered 
pretty equally over the country, and are often reached by 
paths so obscure as almost wholly to escape the notice of 
travellers, who, passing through what appears to be a con- 
tinuous forest from one town to the other, are liable to fall 
into the error of supposing the country almost wholly unin- 
habited. Their dwellings are usually of canes, thatched with 
palm, many of them open at the sides, and with no other 
floor than the bare earth. These fragile structures, so equa- 
ble and mild is the climate, are adequate to such protection 
as the natives are accustomed to consider necessary. Some 
of them are more pretending, and have the canes plastered 
over and whitewashed, with tiled roofe and other improve- 
ments ; and there are a few, belonging to large proprietors, 
which are exceedingly neat and comfortable, approaching 
nearer our ideas of habitations for human beings. 

A large part of the dwellings in the towns are much of the 
same character ; the residences of the better classes, however, 
are built of adobes, are of one story, and enclose large courts, 

6 



84 INTRODUCTION — ^NICABAGUA, 

which are entered under archwajs, often constructed with 
great beauty. The court-yard has generally a great number 
of shade trees, usually orange, making the corridors, upon 
which all the rooms open, exceedingly pleasant. 

I have already said that the natural resources of Nicaragua 
are immense, but they have been very imperfectly developed. 
The portion of lands brought under cultivation is very 
small, but ample for the support of its population. There is 
no difficulty in increasing the amount to an indefinite extent, 
for the forests are easily removed, and genial nature needs 
no forcing to return rich harvests. There are many cattle 
estates, particularly in Chontales, Matagalpa, and Segovia, 
which cover wide tracts of country ; some of these have not 
less than 10,000 or 15,000 head of cattle each. The cattle 
are generally fine, quite equal to those of the United States. 

Among the staples of the State, and which are produced 
in great perfection, I may mention sugar, cotton, coffee, in- 
digo, tobacco, rice, and maize, or Indian com. 

Sugar. — ^The description of sugar-cane grown in Nicaragua 
is a native of the country, and very different from the Asiatic 
cane cultivated in the West Indies and the United States. 
It is said to be equally productive with the foreign species ; 
the canes are softer and more slender, and contain more and 
stronger juice, in proportion to their size, than the Asiatic 
variety. Two crops (under favorable circumstances three 
crops) are taken annually, and the cane does not require 
replanting but once in twelve or fourteen years. The best 
kind of sugar produced from the sugar estates is nearly as 
white as the refined sugar of commerce, the crystals being 
large and hard. The greater part of the supply for ordinary 
consumption is what is called ^^ chancaca,^^ and is the juice 
of the cane merely boiled till it crystallizes, without being 
cleared of the molasses. A quantity of this is exported to 
Peru, and elsewhere in South America. It is stated that the 
''chancaca" may be produced, ready for sale, at $1 26 per 



PRODUCTIONS— COTTON— -OOrPKE. 86 

quintal (101 i lbs. English.) The most profitable part of the 
sugar establishment is the manufacture of " aguardiente,^^ a 
species of rum. It is impossible to say, in the absence of 
data, what amount of sugar is manufactured in Nicaragua ; 
it is perhaps enough to know that it may be produced in- 
definitely. The export has been estimated at 200,000 lbs. 

Cotton. — Cotton of a superior quality to that of Brazil 
may be produced in any quantity in Nicaragua. " As many 
as 50,000 bales, of 300 poimds each," says Dunlap, " of clean 
pressed cotton have been exported from this State in a single 
year ; the cultivation is, however, at present (1846) at a very 
low ebb." Considerable quantities are nevertheless raised, 
which are manufactured by the natives, but chiefly by the 
Indians, into hammocks, sail-cloth, and ordinary clothing. 
The domestic cloth is coarse, but compact, neat, and durable* 

Mr. BaUy observes of the cotton of Nicaragua, " that it 
has already a high standard in the Manchester market, and 
offers a splendid speculation to agriculturists, if a good port 
of export on the Atlantic shall be established." 

Coffee. — Coffee of an excellent quality, and probably 
equal to any in the world, may also be produced indefinitely 
in this republic ; but for the reason that hitherto it has been 
exceedingly diflBcult to get it to a market, it is not very ex- 
tensively cultivated. The plantations which I have seen are 
very flourishing, and the proprietors find them quite as pro- 
fitable as any other. The limited cultivation is perhaps due 
to the circumstance that chocolate is the common beverage 
ol the people; and coffee, never having become an article of 
trade or export, has consequently been neglected. There is 
no reason why as good coffee may not be produced here 
as in Costa Rica ; and the Costa Bican coffee, when offered in 
good condition in England, commands as high a price as 
any other. As, however, it is usually shipped by way of 
Cape Horn, it often suffers fi'om the protracted voyage. It 
has, nevertheless, been the almost exclusive source of wealth 



86 INTBODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

in Costa Rica. The crop of 1847 amounted to 8,000,000 
pounds, which, at $12 50 per cwt., (the average price in the 
English market,) gives $1,000,000 as the return — ^a consid- 
erable sum for a State of less than 100,000 inhabitants, and 
where the culture has been introduced but fourteen years. 
The cost of production, per quintal (lOlJ pounds,) at the 
present rate of wages, (twenty -five cents per day) is about 
$2 60. K the attention of the people of Nicaragua should 
be seriously directed to the production of coffee, it would prove 
a source of great profit. 

Cacao. — Cacao, only equalled by that of Soconosoo, on 
the coast of Guatemala, (and which was once monopolized 
for the use of the royal establishment of Spain,) is cultivated 
in considerable quantities. It is, however, an article of 
general consumption among the inhabitants; and conse- 
quently, commands so high a price that it would not bear 
exportation, even though it could be obtained in requisite 
quantities. About all that finds its way abroad goes in the 
form of presents fi'om one i&iend to the other. There is no 
reason why this should not become an article of large trade, 
and a source of great wealth. The obvious cause why its 
production is not greater, is, the length of time and great 
outlay required in getting a cacao plantation into paying 
operation. Few have now the requisite capital ; and these 
few are in too feverish a state, in consequence of the dis- 
tracted condition of public affairs, to venture upon any 
investment. Under a stable condition of things, and by the 
opening of a short and easy channel to market, the cultiva- 
tion of cacao will rise to be of the first importance. The 
trees give two principal crops in the year. It is sold fi'om 
$15 to $20 the quintal, while the Guayaquil is worth but $5 
or $6. 

Indigo. — Indigo was formerly cultivated to a considerable 
extent, but has of late years much fallen off; and there are 
a number of fine indigo estates in various parts of the republic 



PRODUCTIONS — ^TOBACCO — MAIZE. 87 

which have been quite given up, with all their appurtenances, 
by their respective proprietors. The plant cultivated for the 
manufacture of Indigo is the indigofera^ a triennial plant, 
supposed to be a native of America. There is also an indi- 
genous triennial plant abounding in many parts of Central 
America, which produces indigo of a very excellent quality, 
but gives less than half the weight which is produced by the 
cultivated species. The indigo of Nicaragua is of very 
superior quality, and its export once came up to 5,000 bales 
of 150 lbs. each. It is impossible to say what the export is 
at present ; probably not more than 1,000 or 2,000 bales. 
Under the government of Spain, the State of San Salvador 
produced fix)m 8,000 to 10,000 bales annually. A piece of 
ground equal to two acres generally produces about 100 to 
120 pounds, at a cost of not far from $30 to $40, including 
the cost of clearing the field and all other expenses. 

Tobacco. — A large amount of tobacco is used in Nicaragua, 
all of which is produced in the country. A considerable 
quantity was this year (1849) shipped to California. It 
may be cultivated to any desirable extent, and is of a very 
superior quality. That of San Salvador and Honduras is 
said to be equal to the best Havana for cigars. 

Maize flourishes luxuriantly, and three crops may be 
raised on the same ground annually. It is essentially the 
" staflF of life" in all Central America, being the material of 
which the eternal tortilla is composed. The green stalks, 
"sacate," constitute about the only fodder for horses and 
cattle in the country, and is supplied daily in all the principal 
towns. The abundance of this grain may be inferred from 
the fiict that a fanega of Leon (equivalent to about five 
bushels of English) of shelled corn, in 1849, commanded in 
the capital but one dollar. 

Wheat and all other cereal grains, as well as the fruits of 
temperate climates, flourish in the elevated districts of Sego- 



88 INTRODUCmON — NICARAGUA. 

via, in the northern part of the republic, bordering upon 
Honduras, where, it is said, except in the absence of snow, 
little diflference is to be observed, in respect to climate, from 
the southern parts of the United States. 

EiCE is abundant in Nicaragua, and is extensively used, 
and, like maize, may be easily cultivated to any extent 
desirable. It is sold at from $1 60 to $2 per cwt. 

In short, nearly all the edibles and friiits of the tropics are 
produced naturally, or may be cultivated in great perfection. 
Plantains, bananas, beans, chile, tomatoes, bread-fruit, arrow- 
root, ocra, citrons, oranges, limes, lemons, pine-apples (the 
delicious white Guayaquil, as well as the yellow variety), 
mamays, anonas or chirimoyas, guavas, cocoa-nuts, and a 
hundred other varieties of plants and fruits. Among the 
vegetable productions of commerce may be mentioned sarsa- 
pariUa, anota,* aloes, ipecacuanha, ginger, vanilla, Peruvian 
bark (quinine), cowhage, copal, gum arabic, copaiva, caout- 
chouc, dragon's blood, and vanglo, or oil plant. Among the 
valuable trees: mahogany, log- wood. Brazil-wood, lignum- 
vitae, fustic, yellow sanders, pine (on the heights), dragon's 
blood tree, silk-cotton tree, oak, copal tree, cedar, button- 
wood, iron-wood, rose-wood, Nicaragua wood, calabash, etc., 
etc. Of these, Brazil wood, cedar, and mahogany are found 
in the forests in what may be termed inexhaustible quantifies. 
The cedar is a large tree, like the red cedar of the North in 
nothing except color and durability, and in solidity and other 
respects closely resembling the black walnut. Five or six 
cargoes of Brazil wood are exported from Realejo yearly, and 
something more from San Juan. A quantity of cedar plank 
is also exported to South America. 

The raising of cattle and the production of cheese is a most 
important item in the actual resources of Nicaragua. The 
cheese is for common consumption, and great quantitieft are 
used. Large droves of cattle are annually aent to die cAm 



^ ' «^^^-*^*^ .Jr. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 89 

States, where they oommand very fitir prices. About thirty- 
five or forty thousand hides are also exported annually. 

The mineral resources of Nicaragua are also very great. 
Grold, silver, copper, lead, and iron, may be found in consid- 
erable quantities in various parts, but more particularly in 
Segovia, which district is probably not exceeded in its mineral 
wealth by any equal portion of the continent. The working 
of the mines has of course vastly fallen off from the time of 
the Spaniards ; still, their produce is considerable, but it is 
impossible to obtain any satisfactory statistics concerning it. 
A portion of the gold and silver finds its way through Izabal 
to the Balize ; other portions pass on through the ports of 
Truxillo and Omoa, in Honduras ; and another but smaller 
part ^aches the ports pf Nicaragua. 

There is now no mint in Central America, excepting a 
small one in Costa Rica, which coins from $50,000 to $100,000 
annually, principally in dollar pieces of gold. These are 
short of weight, and are not generally current. Their true 
value is ninety-three cents. Humboldt, in his statement of 
the produce of the respective mining districts of America, 
has put against that of Guatemala, "nothing;" but it is 
certain from the accounts of Gage and others, as also 5f the 
buccaneers, who made a number of profitable expeditions to 
the mining districts, that the precious metals were early pro- 
duced in considerable abundance. From a report by the 
master of the old mint, made in 1825, it appears that, for 
the fifteen years anterior to 1810, gold and silver had been 
coined to the amount of $2,193,832, and for the fifteen years 
posterior to that date, to the amount of $3,810,382. This 
officer remarks, " that it must not be deduced from hence 
that this is all our mines have produced in this period, as 
great quantities of the metal have been manufactured and 
exported in their native state." He estimates the actual 
products of the mines at ten times the amount coined ; which 
would give upwards of $50,000,000 for the thirty years pre- 



40 INTEODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

ceding 1825. This estimate will probably bear some deduo* 
tion.V 
Other minerals are abundant. Sulphur may be obtained 

^ Dunkp, who paid considerable attention to the mines and minerals of 
Central America, observes : 

" Though the vegetable productions of Central America are so valuable, 
the hidden treasures are scarcely of inferior worth ; and in no part of the 
world are mines so generally found in nearly every district Many of 
these were successfully worked after the conquest and during the Spanish 
dominion. Besides the mines of gold and silver, there are others contain- 
ing lead in nearly a pure state; the ore yielding 90 per cent, of metal 
In some specimens 25 per cent of silver is said to be mixed with the lead. 

" At the village of Patapa, nine leagues from Santa Ana, in the State 
of San Salvador, are some rich mines of iron, which produce a purer and 
more malleable metal than any imported from Europe : the ore is close to 
the surface, and very abundant, and there are extensive forests in the 
immediate vicinity, which serve for making charcoal But, notwith- 
standing, the amount of iron manufactured is only equal to the supply of 
the State, where it is worth $10 the 100 lbs., or $200 per ton. In the 
same neighborhood are several silver mines, which were successfully 
worked in the time of the Spaniards, but are now abandoned for want of 
capital to carry them on. 

" Five leagues north of San Miguel are a number of mines, principally 
of silver ; among them was one called La Carolina, worked by a Spaniard 
about thirty years ago. He invested his own property, borrowed $100,000, 
and, after getting tlie mine in working order, in less tlian six months was 
enabled to pay his obligations; and, although he died before the end of 
the year, left $70,000 in gold and silver, the produce of the mine. After 
his death, the ownership was disputed, the works fell into ruins, and the 
mine became filled with water, in which condition it remains. The mines 
of Tabanco were more celebrated than those in this vicinity, and when 
worked yielded upward of $1,000,000 annually, although worked in a rude 
manner, without machinery. The principal of these once yielded $200,000 
annual profit to the proprietors. 

" Near the town of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, there are a 
number of mines which still produce a considerable amount of the precious 
metals, although not one-tenth of what they formerly yielded. All the 
hills in the neighborhood abound in gold and silver, generally intermixed ; 
and though none of them have been excavated to any depth, or worked 



MINES AND MINEBALS. 41 

in great quantities, crude and nearly pure, from the volca- 
noes; and nitre is easily procured, as also sulphate of iron. 

bj proper machinery, they have formerly yielded more than $2,000,000 
per year ; and were European capital and science introduced, the produce 
iroald be great From all I have been able to collect, this neighborhood 
appears to possess natural stores of the precious metals, even exceeding 
those of the celebrated mines of Potosi, in Bolivia. For a scientific and 
jvactlcal miner, supported by capital, they probably offer the best adven- 
ture to be found in Spanish America. 

* Bie ores generally contain from 12 to 15 per cent of silver, and from 
one to one and a half per cent of gold ; but the latter metal is often found 
pure in many places, and the value of some thousands of dollars is annu- 
ally collected by the Indians in the sands of the rivers, pieces of gold 
weighing as many as five and six pounds having occasionally been discov- 
ered. 

" Some rich gold washings exist at Matagalpa, near Segovia, in Nica- 
ragua, which are only worked by the Indians, who annually collect and 
^spoBe of a few pounds of very pure gold. Some copper mines have also 
been discovered here, the ore of which, when shipped to England, yielded 
35 per cent of copper. 

"In the district of Nicoya, in the same State, many traces of the 
precious metals are said to exist, but as the country is almost wholly 
oninbabited, little is known concerning them. 

" In the mountain of Aguacatc, in Costa Rica, several profitable gold 
mines are still worked with fair profits." — Dunlap'a Central America^ 1847, 
pp. 277, 284. 

An Engli^ traveller named Byam, who, although destitute of scientific 
knowledge, seems to have visited Nicaragua for mining purposes, states 
that the silver mines which he observed " were fine, broad, but rather 
irregular veins, the ore combined with sulphur and lead. The ore is hard 
but dean." The copper ores, he informs us, "are almost all uncombined 
with sulphur, or any other combination which requires calcining to be got 
rid of. They may all be smelted in a common blast furnace, with the aid 
of equal quantities of iron-stone, which lies in large quantities on the 
surface of all the hilly country. They are what the Spanish miners call 
'metal de color,' red and blue oxides and green carbonates, with now and 
then the brown or pigeon-breasted. They cut easily and smoothly with 
the knife, and yield from twenty-five to sixty per cent The copper veins 
are generally vertical, and the larger ones run east and west" This 

6 



42 INTRODUCTION— NICABAGUA. 

The modes of mining practised in Central America are 
exceedingly rude, and render it surprising that profitable 

writer has the following references to the gold washings of the 
country : 

'' Some adventurers, generally of the very lowest class, both in msimen 
and morals, proceed to the auriferous streams, that run through the south 
pan of the Honduras nearest to Segovia, for two or three months during 
the dry est part of the year, and when' the rains have entirely subsided. 
Their baggage is very light and easily carried on a donkey or half-starved 
mule, for they only provide each for himself and his female helpmate a 
small load of Indian corn, barely enough for the pair, some tobacco, m 
small stone for grinding the corn, an earthen pan or two, a hatchet^ and • 
small leathern bag to put the gold in wJien found. They also take a feic 
half gourds dried, to wash the earth in, and a grass hammock to sleep in. 
and away they start, driving their animals before them, each man carrying 
his machete or short heavy broad sword, and some, bows and arrows. 
The part of the country is almost uninhabited, and, on their arrival at the 
dififerent streams, they generally separate, and each pair chooses a i^t 
often miles apart, where they commence operations. The first thing is to 
build a '' Ramada," or hut of branches, as the name signifies ; but they 
always select a place where two good-sized trees are near enough together, 
to enable them to swing their hammocks between them. With a few 
poles and branches with the leaf on, a hut is made in two or three hours; 
the man then makes a pile of dry wood near at hand, and leaves the entire 
care of the household to the woman, who grinds the corn, and every day 
makes a few cakes, looking like thin pancakes, which are toasted on a flat 
earthen pan over the wood ashes. Their drink is a little maize meal Mtd 
cacao nut ground together, mixed with water and stirred up in a gourd; 
and thus the pair vegetate for two or three months, supported by the 
hopes of living well for the remainder of the year. The man is always 
within sight of the hut, in case assistance be wanted in such a wild spot ; 
and he digs holes into the ground near the stream, and after having piled 
up a heap of earth dose to the water, washes it in the half gourds, when, 
after repeated changes of water, and the spot chosen having proved a good 
one, a little fine gold dust is often visible in the gourd. It requires a 
great deal of nicety to balance the gourd backwards and forwards, up and 
down, and round about, so as to get rid of the earth; and it is still more 
difficult, at the last washing, to manage to leave the gold altogether, at 
the very end of the remaining deposit, which is generally of a black or 



MINES — ^POBTS. 4& 

reniltB should be attained The silver and gold ores are 
oruahed in a basin of masonry, in which rises a vertical shaft, 
driven generally by a horizontal water-wheel. This shaft 
has two arms, to each of which is suspended a large stone 
or boulder. These are the crushers. After the ore is 
reduced to sufficient fineness, the metal is separated by 
amalgam; a long and expensive process, which is now 
banning to be much facilitated and cheapened by the 
introduction of the Grerman or "barrel process." The 
machines for crushing the ores have, however, as yet, under- 
gone but alight improvement Some of the mines in San 
Salvador and Costa Rica have European machinery, and are 
worked to great advantage. 

The most important silver mines in Nicaragua, at present, 
are those called Dipilta, in the northern part of the republic. 

These have been worked only for a short period, and 
under very disadvantageous circumstances. They have, 
nevertheless, during the last three years, produced upwards 
of 26,000 marks (17,800 lbs.) of silver. The average yield of 
the ores is something over one and a half per cent. The better 
qualities of ore produce nearly two per cent, of pure metal. 

Nicaragua has a number of excellent ports, the best known 
of which are San Juan, on the Atlantic, and Realejo, on the 
Pacific. These will be specially noticed in another connec- 
tion. It may, nevertheless, be observed that they are ade- 
quate to all the wants of commerce, and are not surpassed in 
natural advantages by any of the American ports under the 
tropics. No returns of their commerce have been made 
public for many years; and there are, in consequence, no 

dark gray color. The grains of gold are often large enough to be picked 
out after one or two washings, and often of a size to be discerned whilst 
digging, and a man in good luck may find enough gold in a week to keep 
hini comfortably the whole year ; but money easily got generally soon 
goes; and on tlie return of the lucky pair to their town, it is too oft»n 
quickly spent in gambling and low debauchery." 



44 INTRODUCTION — ^NICARAGUA. 

• 

means of determining what has been the trade of the country. 
This information, however, is now of little importance; for 
recent events have opened entirely new markets,* and new 

* In a report made to the British government in 1837, by Mr. Foster, 
British Vice-Consul, and one of the principal traders of the country, the 
character of the imports and exports of the country are exhibited as 
follows : 

" The prices of foreign manufactures have now found their level in 
these markets, and the consumption of those articles used by the poorer 
classes has increased in a wonderful degree both in quantity and quality ; 
and the demand for foreign manufactures (of which British cottons of 
inferior quality have a prominent part) will naturally go on at an increased 
rate. 

" The foreign imports may be classed under the following heads: 

"British — consist of calicoes, printed cottons, (domestic or gray,) and 
power-loom shirtings, linen and cotton mixed, or unions, linens, muslins, 
hosiery, hard earthenware, iron, steel, lead, powder, etc., etc. 

"French — consist of silks, printed cottons, cambrics, wine, spirits, 
jewelry, and fancy articles. 

" United States — consist of domestic cottons, soap, sperm candles, hard- 
ware, spirits of inferior quality, and powder. 

"Spanish — consist of paper, silk, riband, wine, oil, spirits, etc. 

" Germany — consist of osnaburgs, glassware, wax, furniture, hardware, 
steel, wine, etc. 

" Italy — consist of paper, oil, silk, and liquors. 

" Colombia — consist of cacao and straw hats. 

"Peru — consist ofxerga, (a coarse woollen cloth,) tin, spirits, and com- 
mon sweet wine. 

" Chile — consist of sweet wine and pel ones. 

" The value of British goods imported may be taken at two-thirds of 
the whole of the imports. 

" The consumption of French goods, being principally articles of luxury, 
is chiefly confined to the cities of Guatemala, San Salvador, Leon, 
Granada, etc. German linens, shirtings, and glassware are articles of gene- 
ral consumption. In Spanish goods, with the exception of ribands, the 
imports are trivial. They have given way to those of France and Italy. 

" The sickness of this year has had considerable influence on the exports 
Cochineal and indigo form the principal; great quantities, particularly of 
tlie Ibrmer, are shipped from the ports on the northern side of Honduras. 



TBADE AND COlOIfiBCE. 45 

ayenues of trade, and the past can be no criterion for the 
foture in estimating the present and future commercial im- 
portance of the country. 

From the ports of the Pacific, 1,500 ceroons have been exported during 
the year to Europe, and the ports of Peru and Chile. Hides, horns, 
sarsiparilla, and balsam, for Europe and the United Sates, and mahogany, 
cedv, and sugar, for Chile and Peru. Those form the principal articles of 
the export trade, which, in proportion to the imports, is on the increase. 
Brazil wood, with which this State as well as Costa Rica abounds, for- 
merlj afforded employment to a great number of British vessels. The fall 
of this article in the home markets has for the present caused it to be but 
little sought for. 

"In agriculture, this State is rapidly improving. In addition to indigo, 
sagar, cacao, wheat, etc., etc., coffee and cotton are now better attended 
to, bat more particularly cotton and indigo. The former, which is much 
esteemed and known in the European market as 'green suche,' is an 
annual plant The staple is short, which defect is overbalanced by its 
superior texture; audit is particularly adapted to certam manufactures." 



NARRATIVE 



NARRATIVE. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BRIO FRANCIS — DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK — SAN DOMINGO— THE COAST 
OF CENTRAL AMERICA — MONKEY POINT — SHREWD SPECULATIONS — A NAKED 
PILOT — ^ALMOST A SHIPWRECK — SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA — MUSIC OF THE 
CHAIN CABLE — ^A POMPOUS OFFICIAL — ^DELIVERING A LETTER OF INTRODUC- 
TION — TERRA FIRMA AGAIN — "NAGUAS" AND " GUIPILS" — THE TOWN AND 

ITS LAGUNA — SNAKES AND ALLIGATORS — PRACTICAL EQUALITY CELT V*. 

NEGRO— A WAN POLICEMAN — THE BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL FOR MOSQUHOA — 
"our house" IN SAN JUAN — AN EMEUTE — PIGS AND POLICE — A VISCOMTE 
ON THE STUMP — ^A SERENADE — MOSQUITO INDIANS — A PICTURE OF PRIMITIVE 
SIMPLICITY. 

The preceding general observatioua will serve to give an 
outline view of Central America and Nicaragua, and prepare 
the way for more detailed accounts of the country and its 
inhabitants. In attempting to give these, I shall refer to 
localities as they fell under my notice in entering and pass- 
ing through the country, and record incidents very nearly in 
the order in which they occurred. 

The point in Nicaragua most accessible from the United 
States, and that to which the traveller would most naturally 
take his course, is the now well-known port of San Juan de 
Nicaragua, situated upon the shores of the Caribbean Sea, 
about three hundred miles to the north-west of Chagres. The 
little brig Francis, of New York, was " up" for this port in the 

7 



50 NICAIUGUA — ^NAKRATIVE, 

early part of May, in the year of grace 1849 ; and, for satis- 
fiietory reasons, overruling all choice in the premises, berths 
were engaged in her for myself and companions. She lay at 
the foot of Roosevelt street, in the terra incognita beyond the 
Bowery, — a pigmy amongst the larger vessels which sur- 
roimded her. We reported ourselves on board, in compli- 
ance with the special request of the owners, at 9 o'clock on 
the morning of the 11th, just as the human tide ebbed from 
the high- water mark of Fourth street and Union Square, and 
subsided for the day amongst the rugged banks and danger- 
ous shallows of Wall and Pearl streets. 

The Francis had received her freight, and her decks were 
encumbered with pigs and poultry, spars and tarpaulins, to 
say nothing of water casks and tar barrels, forbidding in 
advance any peregrinations, by unsteady landsmen, beyond 
the quarter deck. The quarter deck was so called by cour- 
tesy only : it was elevated but a few inches above the waist, 
and, deducting the room occupied by hen-coops, water-casks, 
and the man at the helm, aflforded but about ten square 
feet of space, in which the unfortunate passengers might 
" recreate" tliemselves. This might have sufficed for men of 
moderate desires, but then it was far from being " contigu- 
ous territory,"" 

In a word, we found ourselves in the midst of a confusion 
which none but the experienced traveller can coolly con- 
template. Our friends, or rather the more daring of them, 
scrambled over the intervening decks, or hailed us from the 
rigging of the neighboring vessels. We would have invited 
them on board, but there was no room to receive them ; be- 
sides the descent was perilous. All partings are much alike, 
but ours were made with a prodigious aifectation of good 
spirits. We were to have sailed precisely at ten ; but when 
eleven was chimed, the number which had come "expressly 
to see us off," was sensibly diminished ; and at twelve we 
were left to our own contemplations. 



DBPARTUBS PROM NEW YORK, 51 

There was a prodigious pulling of ropes ; the same boxes 
yrere tumbled from one place to another and back again ; 
trunks disappeared and came to light, and it seemed as if 
ererybody was engaged in a grand search for nobody knew 
what At one o'clock the pilot came on board. The delay 
had become painM, and now we thought the time for sailing 
liad arrived. But the pilot was a fat man, and sat down im- 
perturbably upon a water-cask. " Well, Mr. Pilot, are we 
off?" He deigned no audible reply, but glanced upwards sig- 
nificantly towards the streamer at the masthead. The wind 
blew briskly in ifrom the Narrows. So we seated ourselves 
upon the water-casks also, and watched the men who were 
painting the next ship, and almost nodded ourselves to sleep, 
to the monotonous " yo-ho" of the sailors unloading an India- 
man near by. The roar of Broadway fell subdued and dis- 
tant upon our ears ; and the ferry-boats and little steamers 
in the river seemed to^move about in silence, going to and 
fro apparently without an object, like ants around an ant- 
hilL 

By-and-by a little, black bull-dog of a steamer thrust itself 
valiantly tlirough the crowd of vessels, made a rope fast to 
our bows, and dragged us, with a jerk, triumphantly into the 
stream, past Governor's Island, down to the outer bay, and 
then left us to take care m ourselves. That night the sun 
went down cold and filmy, and the Francis tumbled roughly 
about amidst the dark waves of the Atlantic. * * * A 
calm under the high capes of San Domingo, — an infinitude of 
thunder squalls, with the pleasant consciousness of a hundred 
kegs of gunpowder stowed snugly around the fix)t of the 
mainmast, — ^a "close shave" on the coral reefe below Ja- 
maica, — ^for twenty-six mortal days this was all which w^ 
had of relief from the detestable monotony of shipboard. 
Blessed be steam 1 * * * * 

It was a dark and rainy morning, when " Land on the lee- 
bow," was sung out by the man at the helm, and in less time 



52 NICABAGUA — NABRATIVK. 

than is occupied in writing it, the occupants of the close litUe 
cabin made their way on deck, to look for the first time upon 
the coast of Central America. The dim outlines of the land 
were just discernible through the murky atmosphere, and 
many and profound were the conjectures hazarded as to what 
precise point was then in view. The result finally arrived at 
was, that we were off " Monkey Point," about thirty miles 
to the northward of our destined port. This conclusion was 
soon confirmed by observing, close under the shadow of the 
shore, an immense rock, rising with all the regularity of the 
Pyramids to the height of three hundred feet ; a landmark 
too characteristic to be mistaken. 

We were sweeping along with a stiff breeze, and were 
comforted with the assurance that we should be in port to 
breakJEast, " t/," as the cautious captain obseiTcd, " the wind 
held." But the perverse wind did not hold, and in half an 
hour thereafter we were rocking abomt with a wash-tubby 
motion, the most disagreeable that can be imagined, and of 
which we had had three days' experience imder the Capes of 
San Domingo. The haze cleared a little, and with our 
glasses we could make out a long, low line of shore, covered 
with the densest verdure, with here and there the feathery 
palm, which forms so picturesque a feature in all tropical 
scenery, lifting itself proudly abovefche rest of the forest, and 
the whole relieved against a background of high hills, over 
which the gray mist still hung like a veil. 

Some of the party could even make out the huts on the 
shore ; but the old man at the helm smiled incredulously, 
and said there were no huts there, and that the imbroken and 
untenanted forest extended far back to the great ridge of the 
Cordilleras. So it was when the adventurous Spaniards 
coasted here three centuries ago, and so it had remained ever 
since. Thcvse observations were interrupted by a heavy 
shower, acceptable for the wind it brought, which filled the 
idle sails, and moved us towards our haven. And though 



COABT OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 58 

the rain fell in torrents, it did not deter ns from getting 
soaked, in vain endeavors to harpoon the porpoises that 
came tumbling in numbers around our bows. 

But the shower passed, and with it our breeze, and again 
the brig rocked lazily on the water, which was now filled 
with branches' of trees, and among the rubbish that drifted 
past, a broken spear and a cocoa-nut attracted particular 
attention ; the one showed the proximity of a people whose 
primitive weapons had not yet given place to those more 
effective, of civilized ingenuity, and the other was a certain 
index of the tropics. The shower passed, but it had carried 
us within sight of our port. Those who had previously seen 
cabins on the shore could not now perceive any evidences of 
human habitation, and stoutly persisted that we had lost our 
reckoning, and that we were far from our destined haven. 
But a trim schooner which was just then seen moving rapidly 
along under a pouring shower, in the same direction with 
ourselves, silenced the pretended doubters, and became im- 
mediately a subject of great speculation. It was finally 

agreed on all hands that it must be the B , a vessel which 

left New York three days before us, the captain of which had 
boasted that he would " beat us in, by at least ten days." So 
everybody was anxious that the little brig should lead him 
into the harbor, and many were the objurgations upon the 
wind, and desperate the attempts of the sailors to avail them- 
selves of every " cat's-paw" that passed. 

The excitement was great, and some of the impatient pas- 
sengers inquired for sweeps, and recommended putting out 
the yawl to tow the vessel in. They even forgot, such was 
the excitement, to admire the emerald shores which were now 
distinct, not more than half a mile distant, and prayed that a 
black-looking thunder-storm, looming gloomily in the east, 
might make a diversion in our favor. And then a speck wiis 
discerned in the direction of the port ; and by-and-by the 
• movement of the oars could be seen, and bodies swaying to 



64 KIO ABAGUA— -KABSATiyE. 

and fro, and in due time apitrpan, a long, sharp-pointed canoe, 
pulled by a motley set of mortals, stripped to the waist, and 
displaying a great variety of skins, from light yellow to coal 
black, darted under our bows, and a burly fellow in a shirt 
pulled off his straw hat to the captain, and inquired in bad 
English, "Want-ee ah pilot?" The mate consigned him to 
the nether regions for a lubber, and inquired what had be- 
come of his eyes, and if he couldn't tell the Francis anywhere ; 
the Francis, which " had made thirty-seven voyages to this 
port, and knew the way better than any black son of a gun 
who ever put to sea in a bread-trough !" And then the black 
fellow in a shirt and straw hat was again instructed to go 
below, or if he preferred, to go and " pilot in the lubberly 
schooner to windward." The black fellow looked blacker 
than before, and said something in an unintelligible jargon to 
the rest, and away they darted for the schooner. 

Meantime the flank of the thunder storm swept towards 
us, piling up a black line of water, crested with foam, while 
it approached with a noise like that of distant thunder. It 
came upon us ; the sails fluttered a moment and filled, the 
yards creaked, the masts bent to the strain, and the little brig 
dashed rapidly through the hissing water. In the darkness 
we lost sight of the schooner, and the shore was no longer 
visible, but we kept on our way ; the Francis knew the road, 
and seemed full of life, and eager to reach her old anchorage. 

" Don't she scud !" said the mate, who rubbed his hands in 
very glee. " If this only holds for ten minutes more, we're 
in, like a spike I" — ^and, strange to say, it did hold ; and when 
it was past we found ourselves close to " Point Arenas," a 
long narrow spit, partly covered with water, which shuts in 
the harbor, leaving only a narrow opening for the admission 
of vessels. The schooner was behind us, but here was a 
difficulty. The bar had changed since his last trip ; the cap- 
tain was uncertain as to the entrance, and the surf broke 
heavily under our lee. Excitement of another character pre- , 



ALMOST A SHIFWBECIL 56 

rmied as we moved slowly on, where ^ great swell proclaimed 
the existence of shallows. The captain stood in the bow, 
and we watched the captain. Suddenly he cried, ^'Hard 
a-porti" with startling emphasis, and ^^ Hard a-port f^ was 
echoed bj the helmsman, as he swept round the tiller. But 
it was too late ; the little vessel struck heavily as the wave 
feU. 

"Thirty-seventh, and last I" muttered the mate between 
his teeth, as he rushed to the fastenings, and the main-sail 
came down on the run. " Bound with the boom, my men I" 
and the boom swung roimd, just as the brig struck again, 
with greater force than before, unshipping the rudder, and 
throwing the helmsman across the deck. '^ Bound again, my 
men ! lively, or the Francis is lost !" cheered the mate, who 
seemed invested with superhuman strength and agility ; and 
as the boom swung roimd the wave fell, but the Francis did 
not strike. " Clear she is 1" shouted the mate, who leaped 
upon, the companion-way, and waved his hat in triumph ; 
and turning towards the schooner, " Do tJiat, ye divil, and 
call yerself a sailor!" There was no doubt about it; the 
Francis was in before the schooner; and notwithstanding 
the accident to her rudder, she passed readily to her old an- 
choring ground, in the midst of a spacious harbor, smooth as 
a mill-pond. There was music in the rattling cable as the 
anchor was run out, and the Francis moved slowly round, 
with her broadside towards the town. The well was tried, 
but she had made no water, which was the occasion for a new 
ebullition of joy on the part of the mate. 

All danger past, we had an opportunity to look about us. 
We were not more than two cable-lengths from a low sandy 
shore, upon which was ranged, in a line parallel to the water, 
a double row of houses, or rather huts, some built of boards, 
but most .of reeds, and all thatched with palm-leaves. Some 
came down to the water, like sheds, and under one end were 
drawn up pi^pans and canoes. Larger contrivances for navi- 



68 NICARAGUA— -KABRATIVE. 

then in town, the colored gentleman uncovered his head, 
bowed low, and said the humble individual named was be- 
fore me. I also uncovered myself, bowed equally low, and 
assured him I was happy to make his acquaintance, deliver^ 
ing my letter at the same time with all the grace possible 
under the circumstances. 

He glanced over its contents, took ofif his hat again, and 
bowed lower than before. Not to be behindhand in polite- 
ness, I went through the same performance, which was re- 
sponded to by a genuflection absolutely beyond my power 
to undertake, without risk of a dislocation ; so I resigned the 
contest, and gave in *^ dead beat,'' much to the entertain- 
ment of the Irish mate, who was not deficient in the natural 
antipathy of his race towards the negro. Ben, my colored 
servant, next received a welcome not less cordial than my 
own ; and my new acquaintance ^^ was glad to inform me, 
that fortunately there was a new house under his charge, 
which was then vacant, and that he was happy in putting it 
at my disposal." The happiness was worth exactly eight 
dollars, as I discovered by a bill which was presented to me 
four days thereafter, as we were ou the point of leaving for 
the interior; and which, considering that the usual rent of 
houses here is from four to five dollars per month, was pro- 
bably intended to include pay for the genuflections on ship- 
board. We were impatient to land, and c^uld not wait for 
the yawl to be hoisted over the side : so we crowded our- 
selves into the canoe of the " Harbor Master," and went on 
shore. 

The population of the town was all there, many-hued and 
fantastically attired. The dress of the urchins from twelve 
and fourteen downwards, consisted generally of a straw hat 
and a cigar, the latter sometimes unlighted and stuck behind 
the ear, but oftener lighted and stuck in the mouth ; a costume 

sufficiently airy and picturesque, and, as B observed, 

" excessively cheap." 



A POMPOUS OFFICIAL. 67 

bodies, protected only at the loins, indicated their descent 
fix)m the aborigines who had disputed the possession of the 
soil with the mailed followers of Cordova, and made vain 
propitiations to the symbolical sun to assist them against 
their enemies. Here they were, unknowing and careless 
alike of Cordova or the sun, and ready to load themselves 
like brutes, in order to earn a sixpence with which to get 
drunk that night, in concert with the monotonous twanging 
of a two-stringed guitar ! 

Our anchor was hardly down before a canoe came along- 
side, containing as variegated an assortment of passengers as 
can well be conceived. Among them were the officers of the 
port, whose importance was made manifest from the nume- 
rous and unnecessary orders they gave to the oarsmen, and 
the prodigious bustle they made in getting up the side. 
They looked inquiringly at the bright silken flag which one 
of the party held in his hands, and which looked brighter 
than ever under the rays of the setting sun. The eagles on 
the caps of the party were also objects which attracted many 
inquiring glances ; and directly the captain was withdrawn 
into a corner, and asked the significance of all this. The 
answer seemed to diminish the importance of the officials 
materially, and one approached, holding his sombrero reve- 
rently in his hand, and said that " Her Britannic Majesty's 

Consul-General in Mosquitia, Mr. C , was now resident 

in the town, and that he should do himself the honor to 
announce our arrival immediately, and hoped we had had a 
pleasant voyage, and that we would avail ourselves of his 
humble services ;" to all of which gracious responses were 
given, together with a drop of brandy, which last did not 
seem at all unacceptable. I had warm letters of introduction 
to several of the leading inhabitants of San Juan, and accord- 
ingly began to make inquiries as to their whereabouts of a 
respectable looking negro, who was amongst the visiting party. 

To my first question, as to whether Mr. S S was 

8 



68 NICARAGUA— NABRATIVE, 

then in town, the colored gentleman uncovered his head, 
bowed low, and said the humble individual named was be- 
fore me. I also uncovered myself^ bowed equally low, and 
assured him I was happy to make his acquaintance, deliver- 
ing my letter at the same time with all the grace possible 
under the circumstances. 

lie glanced over its contents, took ofif his hat again, and 
bowed lower than before. Not to be behindhand in polite- * 
ness, I went through the same performance, which was re- 
sponded to by a genuflection absolutely beyond my power 
to undertake, without risk of a dislocation ; so I resigned the 
contest, and gave in " dead beat," much to the entertain- 
ment of the Irish mate, who was not deficient in the natural 
antipathy of his race towards the negro. Ben, my colored 
servant, next received a welcome not less cordial than my 
own ; and my new acquaintance ^' was glad to inform me, 
that fortunately there was a new house under his charge, 
which was then vacant, and that he was happy in putting it 
at my disposal." The happiness was worth exactly eight 
dollars, as I discovered by a bill which was presented to me 
four days thereafter, as we were on the point of leaving for 
the interior; and which, considering that the usual rent of 
houses here is from four to five dollars per month, was pro- 
bably intended to include pay for the genuflections on ship* 
board. We were impatient to land, and c^uld not wait for 
the vawl to be hoisted over the side ; so we crowded our- 
selves into the canoe of the " Harbor Master," and went on 
shore. 

The population of the town was all there, many-hued and 
fantastically attired. The dress of the urchins from twelve 
and fourteen downwards, consisted generally of a straw hat 
and a cigar, the latter sometimes unlighted and stuck behind 
the ear, but oftener lighted and stuck in the mouth ; a costume 

sufficiently airy and picturesque, and, as B observed, 

" excessively cheap." 



INHABITANTS OF SAN JUAN. 69 

Most of the women had a simple white or flowered skirt 
{nagua) &8tened above the hips, with a ^^guipil" or sort of 
krge Vandyke, with holes, through which the arms were 
passed, and which hung loosely down over the breast. In 
some cases the guipil was rather short, and exposed a dark 
strip of skin fix)m one to four inches wide, which the 
wanton wind often made much broader. It was very clear 
that Mae hips and other civilized contrivances had not 
reached here, and it was equally clear that they were not 
needed to give fullness to the female figures which we saw 
aroimdus. All the women had their hair braided in two 
long locks which hung down behind, and which gave them 
aschool-girly look quite out of keeping with the cool, delib- 
erate manner in which they puflFed their cigars, occasionally 
forcing the smoke in jets jQx)m their nostrils. Their feet 
were innocent of stockings, but the more &shionable ladies 
wore silk or satin slippers, which (it is hoped our scrutiny 
was not indelicately close) were quite as likely to be soiled on 
the inside as the out. A number had gaudy-colored rebosos 
thrown over their heads, and altogether, the entire group, 
with an advance-guard of wolfish, sullen-looking curs, was 
strikingly novel, and not a little picturesque. We leaped 
ashore upon the yielding sand with a delight known only to 
the voyager who has been penned up for a month in a small, 
uncomfortable vesgel, and without further ceremony passed 
through the crowd of gazers, and started down the principal 
avenue, which, as we learned, had been called " King street" 
since the English usurpation. The doors of the various 
queer-looking little houses were all open, and in all of them 
might be seen hammocks suspended between the front and 
back entrances, so as to catch the passing current of air. In 
some of these, reclining in attitudes suggestive of most 
intense laziness, were swarthy figures of men, whose consti- 
tutional apathy not even the unwonted occurrence of the 
arrival, at the same moment, of two ships could disturb. The 



60 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

women, it is needless to say, were all on the beach, except a 
few decrepit old dames, who gazed at ns fix)m the door-ways. 
Passing through the town, we entered the forest, followed by 
a train of boys and some ill-looking, grown-up vagabonda. 
The path led to a beautiful lagoon, fenced in by a bank of 
verdure, upon the edges of which were a number of women, 
naked to the waist, who had not yet heard the news ; they 
were washing, an operation quite different from, that of our 
own country, and which consisted in dipping the clothes in 
the water, placing them on the bottom of an old canoe, and 
beating them violently with clubs. Visions of buttonless 
shirts rose up incontinently in long perspective, as we turned 
down a narrow path which led along the shores of the lagoon, 
and invited us to the cool, deep shades of the forest A flock 
of noisy paroquets were fluttering above us, and strange fruits 
and flowers appeared on all sides. We had not gone fiir 
before there was an odor of musk, and directly a plunge in 
the water. We stopped short, but one of the urchins waved 
his hand contemptuously, and said " Lagartos 1" And sure 
enough, glancing through the bushes, we saw two or three 
monstrous alligators slowly propelling thenaselves through 
the water. "Devils in an earthly paradise!" muttered 

B , wlio dropped into the rear. The urchins noticed 

our surprise, and by way of comfort, a little naked rascal in 
advance observed, looking suspiciously around at the same 
time, "J/i/cAos culehnis a/jniy^ — " Many snakes here I" This 
interesting piece of ir^Uigence opened conversation, and we 
were not long in ascertaining that but a few days previously, 
two men had been bitten by snakes, and had died in frightful 
torments. It was soon concluded that we had gone far 
enough, and that we had better defer our walk in the woods 
to another day. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that it 
was never resumed. 

Returning, we met my colored friend, who informed me 
that there was a quantity of hides stored in the house selected 



ICILLENKIAL ANTICIPATIONS. 61 

for mj accommodation^ but that he would have them removed 
that eyeningy and the house ready for our reception in the 
morning. Regarding ourselves as guests, whom it became 
to assent to whatever suggestion our host might make, we 
answered him that the arrangement was perfectly satisfisictory, 
that we could sleep that night comfortably on board the 
vtesel— a terrible fib, by the way, for we knew better — ^and 
that he might take his time in making such provision for us 
as he thought proper. We then sauntered through the 
town, looking into the door- ways, catching occasional glimpses 
of the domestic economy of the inhabitants, and admiring 
not a Uttle the perfect equality and general good understand- 
ing which existed between the pigs, babies, dogs, cats, and 
chickens. The pigs gravely took pieces of tortillas from the 
mouths of the babies, and the babies as gravely took other 

pieces away fix)m the pigs. B observed that this was 

as near an approach to those millennial days when the lion 
and the lamb should lie down together as we should probably 
live to see, and suggested that a particular " note" should be 
made of it for the comfort of Father Miller and the Second- 
Advent Saints in general. There was one house in which 
we noticed a row of shelves containing sundry articles of 
merchandise, among which long-necked bottles of various 
pleasant hues were most conspicuous, and in front of which 
was a rude counter, behind which again was a short lady of 
considerably lighter complexion than the average, to whom 
our colored friend tipped his hat gallantly, informing us at 
the same time that this was the " Maison de Commerce de 
Vifioomte A. de B B et Co. ;" the " Et Co." consist- 
ing of the Viscomte's wife, two sons, and five daughters, 
whose names all appeared in full in the Viscomte's circulars. 
Had we been told that here was the residence of some cazique 
with an unpronounceable name, we might have thought the 
thing in keepihg, and passed on without ceremony ; but a 
Yiacomte was not to be treated so lightly, and we turned 



62 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

and bowed profoundly to the short ladj behind the oonnter, 
who rose and courtesied with equal profundity. 

We reached the beach just as the sun was setting, where 
we found our mate with the yawl : '' An' it bates any dty 
yeVe seen, FU be bound I It's pier number one, is this 
blessed spot of dirt where ye are just now ; may be ye don't 
know it I And yonder hen-coop is the custom-house, be sure ! 
and that dirty clout is the Nagur King's flag, bad luck to it ! 
and it's meself who expects to live to see the stripes and forty 
stars to back 'em, (divil a one less I) wavin' here ! Hurrah 
for Old Zaok 1 — an' it's him that can do it 1" 

It was clear that our mate, who had not looked at a bottle 
during the whole voyage, thought a "d'hrap" necessary to 
neutralize the miasma of San Juan. 

" Perhaps ye know what ye'r laughing at, my dark boy; 
an' it's meself that'll be afther givin' ye a taSte of the way 
we Yankees do the thing, savin' the presence of his honor 
here," said the mate, dashing his hat on the ground, and 
advancing a step toward my new acquaintance, who recoiled 
in evident alarm. We interposed, and the mate cooled at 
once, and shook hands cordially with the colored gentleman, 
although he spoiled the amende by immediately going to the 
water's brink and carefully washing his palms. 

While this scene was transpiring, a ghostly-looking indi- 
vidual, wan with numberless fevers, approached us. He 
was dressed in white, wore a jacket and a glazed cap, and 
upon the latter, in gilded capitals, we read " Police." He 
took off his cap, bowed low, for he was used to it, and said 
that Iler Britannic Majesty's Consul General presented his 
respects to the gentlemen, regretted that, being confined to 
his house by bodily infirmity, he could not wait on them in 
person, and hoped that under the circumstances the gentle- 
men would do him the favor to call upon him^ 

We responded by following the lead of the wan policeman 
(there was only one other, the rest had run away,) who 



THS BRITISH CONSULATE. 68 

opened a wicket leading within the cane enclosure of the 
costom-hoiise, entered that building, and ascending a rough, 
nanow, and ricketty flight of stairs, we were ushered into 
what at home would be called a shocking bad garret, but 
which were the apartments of Her Britannic Majesty's Consul 
General. A long table stood in the centre, and a couple of 
candles flared in the breeze that came in at the unglazed 
openings at either end of the apartment, giving a dim intei^ 
mittent light, by means of which, however, we succeeded in 

discovering Mr. C , the Consul General. He was reclining 

on a rude settee, and rose with dilBiculty to welcome us. He 
apologized for his rough quarters, betraying by his pronun- 
ciation that his youth at least had been passed among the 
iiaiinted glens of Scotland. He had formerly been a- member 
of Parliament^ and had been nearly a year on this coast, in a 
aervice clearly little congenial to his feelings, and far from 
being in accordance with his notions of honor and justice. 
We finind him intelligent and agreeable, and as free from 
prejudices as a Briton could be, without ceasing to be a Briton 
and a Scot 

The evening passed pleasantly, (" barring" the mosquitos,) 
and though we were told of scorpions, which are often found 
when people turn down their blankets, and of numerous 
lizards, which insinuate themselves over night in one's boots, 
we were too glad to get on shore to be much alarmed by the 
lecitaL Upon leaving, we were pressed to come every day 
to the consulate to dine; for we were assured, and with truth, 
that it was impossible to procure a reasonably decent meal 
elsewhere in the town. The Nicaraguans at the fort above, 
it was asserted, had bought up all the vegetables and edibles 
intended for San Jiian, having determined to starve the hated 
English out, and there was not a foot of cultivated ground 
within fifty miles ; consequently the market was poorly sup- 
plied, except with ship provisions, and of these we had had 
quite enough. This was far from being comfortable, for we 



64 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVB. 

had expected to find at San Juan a profusion of all the pro- 
ductions of the tropics, concerning which travellers had 
written so enthusiastically ; to be put, therefore, on allow- 
ances of ship-biscuit and salt pork, was too much to permit 

any consideration of delicacy, so we accepted Mr. C ^'s 

generous offer, returning on board to be phlebotomized 
by a horde of barbarous mosquitos, and to get up next 
morning feverish and unrefreshed, and only prevented from 
appealing to the medicine-chest by the happy consciousneas 
that we were near the land. 

The cook's nondescript mess to which we had been treated 
every morning since we left New York, and which had been 
called by way of courtesy *^ breakfast," was soon disposed ^, 
and we went on shore, where our colored Mend received us 
with a low bow, informing us at the same time thait our liouse 
was ready. He led the way to a building not &r distant 
from the "Maisonde Commerce," opening upon aristocratic 
King street. It was constructed of rough boards, and was 
elevated on posts, so that everybody who entered had to take 
a short run and fljing leap, and was fortunate if he did not 
miss his aim and bark his shins in the attempt. It was satis- 
factory to know that the structure was comparatively new, 
and that the colonies of scorpions, lizards, house-snakes, 
cockroaches, and the other numerous, nameless, and nonde- 
script vermin which flourish here, had not had time to mul- 
tiply to any considerable extent. And though there was a 
large pile of tobacco m bales in one corner, with no other 
object movable or immovable in the room, the novelty of 
the thing was enough to compensate for all deficiencies, and 
we ordered our baggage to be at once brought to the house. 
By way, doubtless, of indicating the capacity of the structure, 
our colored friend told us that this had been the head-quarters 
of a party of Americans bound for California for the space 
of six weeks, and that forty of the number had contrived to 
quarter here ; a new and practical illustration of the indefi- 



"OCR HOUSE ' AT SAN JUAN. 



iiite oompreasibility of Yankee matter, which surpassed all 
unr previoua conceptions. Our friend had provided for us 
in other ways, and had engaged a place where we might 
obttin our breakfasts, and proposed to introduce us to the 




&mi1y which was to furnish that important meal. The 
house was close by, and we were collectively and individu- 
ally presented to Monsieur S , who had been a grenadier 

under Napoleon, had served in numerous campaigns, had 
been in many bloody battles, and had probably escaped being 
xhot because he was too thin to be hit. We were also intro- 
duced to the spouse of Monsieuv S , who was the very 

reverse of her lord, and who gave us a very good breakfast 
and superb chocolate, for which we paid only a dollar each 
per day. It was a blessed thing for our exchequer that we 
didn't dine, sup, and lodge there 1 At the same place break- 
fiuted a couple of Spanish gentlemen, who had come out in 
the echooner, with a valuable cargo of goods for the interior. 
Our hostess certainly could not have had the heart to charge 
them a dollar for breakfast, for they had heard of revolutions 
and a terrible civil war in Nicaragua, and had becu &ight- 



66 NIC AR AG U A — ^NARRATIVE. 

ened out of their appetites. A " bad speculation" at the best 
was before them, perhaps pecuniary ruin. We pitied them, 
but our appetites did not suffer from sympathy. 

The day was passed in receiving visits of ceremony, 
arranging our new quarters, rigging hammocks, (which we 
obtained, at but little more than twice their actual value, at 
the "Maisonde" Commerce of the Viscomte,) and dragging to 
light and air oui' mildewed wardrobes. We thought of con- 
signing our soiled linen to the women at the lagoon ; but the 
sturdy blows of their clubs still sounded in our ears, and we 
trusted to the future ; but the fiiture brought rough stones in 
place of the smooth canoe I 

That night we passed comfortably in our new quarteit, 
interrupted only by various droppings from the roof, which 
the active fancies of sundry members of the- party converted 
into scorpions and other noxious insects. All slept, not- 
withstanding, until J^road daylight next morning, when every 
one was roused by the firing of guns, and a great noise of 
voices, apparently in high altercation, combined with the 
cackling of hens, the barking of dogs, and the squealing of 
pigs ; a noise unprecedented for the variety of its constituent 
sounds. 

" A revolution, by Jove !" exclaimed M , whose brain 

was full of the news from the interior ; " it has got here 
already !" 

The doors were nevertheless thrown open, and every un- 
kempt head was thrust out to discover the cause of the 
tumult. The scene that presented itself passes description. 
There was a mingled mass of men, women, and children, 
some driving pigs and poultry, others flourishing sticks ; here 
a woman with a pig under one arm and a pair of chickens in 
each hand ; there an urchin gravely endeavoring to carry a 
long-nosed porker, nearly as large as himself, and twice as 
noisy ; there a busy party, forming a cordon around a mother 
pig with a large family, and the whole excited, swaying, 



POLICY AND THE POLICE. 67 

flcieamiiig mass retreating before the two policemen in white, 
each bearing a sword, a pistol, and a formidable looking 
blunderbuss. 

"Thej are driving out the poor people," said M ; " it 

is quite too bad I" 

But the manner in which two or three old ladies flourished 
their sticks in the faces of our wan friend and his companion, 
betokened, I thought, anjrthing but bodily fear. Still, the 
whole affidr was a mystery ; and when the crowd stopped 
short before our doors, and every dark visage, in which anger 
and supplication were strangely mingled, was turned towards 
Ufl^ each individual vociferating the while, at the top of his 
¥oice, we were puzzled beyond measure. "Death to the ^ 
English !" was about all we could gather, until the wan po- 
liceman came up and explained, under a torrent of vitupera- 
tion, that he and his companion were merely carrying into 
effect a wholesome regulation which Her Majesty's Consul 
General had promulgated, to the effect that the inhabitants of 
San Juan (which he called Greytown) should no longer allow 
the pigs and poultry to roam at large, but should keep them 
securely "cooped and penned," under penalty of having 
them shot by Her Majesty's servants ; and as the aforesaid 
pigs and poultry had roamed at their will since the time 
**the memory of man runneth not back thereto," and as 
there were neither coops nor pens, it was very clear that the 
wholesome regulation could be but partially complied with. 
A stout mulatto, behind the policeman, carried a pig and 
several fowls, which had evidently met a recent and violent 
end; and we had strong misgivings as to the manner in 
which the various small porkers and chickens which we had 
encountered at the consul's table had been procured. 

The pale policeman grew pathetic, and was almost moved 
to tears when he said that, while in the performance of his 
duty, he was assailed as we saw, and that all his explanations 
were unregarded, and he was disposed to do as his compan- 



68 NICABAGUA — NARBATIVE. 

ions had done — ^run awaj, and leave the town to the do- 
minion of the pigs and chickens. 

The crowd, which had been oomparativelj quiet during 
this recital, now broke out in reply, and gathering counte- 
nance from the presence of the Americans, fairly hustled the 
policemen into the middle of the street, and might have 
treated them to a cold bath in the harbor, had they not been 
recalled by the voice of the Viscomte, who mounted a block 
and declaimed furiously, in mingled Spanish and French, 
against the *^ perfidious English," and talked of natural and 
municipal rights in a strain quite edifying, and eminently 
French. But as the Viscomte had been instrumental in 
bringing the English there, he did not get much of our sym- 
pathy. He had lost a pet pig that morning, which gave pith 
to his speech ; and we determined to pay our particular re- 
spects to it that evening at the consul's. 

To the appeals made to us directly, we were, as became us, 
diplomatically evasive ; but the people were easily satisfied, 
and late that night we were treated to a serenade, the pauses 
of which were filled in with, ^^Vtvan los Americanos dd 
Norte ; and next day the news was current that six American 
vessels of war were on their way to San Juan to drive out 
the English, whose eflfective force consisted of the wan police- 
man and his equally wan companion I And the consul him- 
self did us the honor to hope that we had said nothing to 
encourage the poor people in their perversity, for he almost 
despaired of making them respectable citizens I They couldn't 
discern, he was sorry to say, their own best interests. We 
might have suggested to him that circumstances here 
were quite diflferent from those which surrounded the little 
towns of Scotland, and that which might be " good for the 
people" in one instance, might be eminently out of place in 
another ; but then it was none of our business. 
. During the day we paid a visit to the other side of the 
harbor, where some Mosquito Indians, who came down the 



MOSQUITO IXDIA.VS. 6S 

rout to strike turtle, had taken up their temporary residence. 
Tbe; were the most squalid wretches imaginable, and their 
hoB ooDSisted of a few poles set in a slanting direction, upon 
wbich was looaelj thrown a quantity of palm leaves. The 




a'des were open, and altogether the structure must have cost 
dfteen minutes' labor. Under this shelter crowded a variety 
o[ half'Uaked figures, begrimed with dirt, their faces void of 
expr^sion, and altogether brutish. They stared at us va- 
cmtly, and then resumed their meal, which consisted of a 
portion of the flesh of the alligator and the manitus, chopped 
in large pieces end thrown into the fire until the outer por- 
tions were completely charred. These were devoured with- 
out salt, and with a wolfish greediness which was horrible to 
behold. At a little distance, away &om the stench and filth, 
the huts, with the groups beneath and around them, were 
reaUy picturesque objects. 

One hut had been vacated for the moment ; against it the 
fishing rods and spears of its occupants were resting, and in 
front a canoe was drawn up ; this attracted our particular 
notice, and I had a sketch made of it on the spot. Af we 



70 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

paddled along the shore, we saw many thatched huts in cool, 
leafy arbors, surrounded by spots of bare, hard ground, fleck- 
ered with the sunlight, which danced in mazes as the wind 
waved the branches above. Around them were dark, naked 
figures, and before them were light canoes, drawn close to 
the bank, filling out the foreground of pictures such as 
we had imagined in reading the quaint recitals of the early 
voyagers, and the effects of which were heightened by the 
parrots and macaws, fluttering their bright wings on the 
roofs of the huts, and deafening the spectator with their 
shrill voices. Occasionally a tame monkey was seen swing- 
ing by his tail from the branches of the trees, and making 
grimaces at us as we passed. 

The habits of the natives were unchanged in the space of 
three hundred years; their dwellings were the same; the 
scenes we gazed upon were counterparts of those which the 
Discoverers had witnessed. Eternal summer reigned above 
them ; their wants were few and simple, and profuse nature 
supplied them in abundance with all the necessaries of exist- 
ence. They little thought that the party of strangers, gliding 
silently before them, were there to prepare the way for the 
clanging steamer, and that the great world vrithout was medi- 
tating the Titanic enterprise of laying op^n their primeval 
solitudes, gratling down their hills, and opening, from one 
great ocean to the other, a gigantic canal, upon which the 
navies of the world might pass, laden with the treasures of 
two hemispheres 1 



CHAPTER II. 

TnE PORT or 8A3f JUAN DE NICARAGUA; ITS POSITION; OUMATE; POPULA- 

nox; EDIFICES OF ITS inhabitants; its insects; the nioua; the scor- 
pion, ETC. ; its exports and imports ; political condition ; importance, 

PSE8ENT AND PROSPECTIVE; SEIZURE BY THE ENGLISH, ETC. — MOUTH OF THK 
UTER SAN JUAN — THE COLORADO MOUTH — THE TAURO— NAVIGATION OF THE 
RIVER — BONGOS AND PIRAGUAS — ^LOS MARINEROS — ^DISCOVERT AND EARLT 
mSTORT OF THE PORT OF BAN JUAN. 

The Port of San Juan derives its principal importance 
fix)m the fact that it is the only possible eastern terminus for 
the proposed grand inter-oceanic canal, through the territo- 
ries of Nicaragua, via the river San Juan and Lake Nica- 
ragua ; and firom the further circumstance of being the only 
available port of Nicaragua upon the Atlantic. The harboi 
is not large, yet it is altogether better and more spacious 
than is generally supposed. The entrance is easy, and 
vessels of the largest class find little difficulty in passing the 
mouth, and obtaining within a safe and commodious anchor- 
age. It has been represented that, in consequence of the 
peculiar make of the land, it is extremely difficult to be 
found. This is true to a certain extent ; but although the 
coast in the immediate vicinity is low, yet a short distance 
hack the land is high and marked, and cannot be mistaken^ 
With proper charts, correct sketches of the coasts, and with 
a lighthouse on Point Arenas, every difficulty would be obr 
viated. This is evident even to the unprofessional observer. 
The harbor is probably adequate to every purpose connected 
with the proposed canal. 



72 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

The town of San Juan consists (June, 1850) of fifty or 
sixty palm thatched houses, or rather huts, arranged with 
some degree of regularity, upon the south-western shore of 
the harbor. It is supported entirely by the trade carried on 
through it ; and its inhabitants are dependent upon the sup- 
plies brought down from the interior, or furnished from 
trading vessels, for the means of subsistence. There are no 
cultivated lands in the vicinity, and excepting the narrow 
space occupied by the town, and a small number of acres 
on the island opposite, where a few cattle find pasturage, the 
primitive forest is unbroken by clearings of any description, 
^rhe ground upon which the town is built is sandy, and 
although elevated but a few feet above the water, is, never- 
theless, dry. The country all around it is low, and is a short 
<listance back fi-om the shore really marshy, interspersed 
with numerous lagoons. After penetrating a number of 
miles into the interior, however, higher land is found, with a 
soil adapted for every purpose of cultivation. 

Although the climate of San Juan is warm and damp, it 
is exempt from the fevers and epidemics which prevail in 
most places similarly situated, upon the shores of the Gulf of 
Mexico and Caribbean Sea. I could not learn that any cases 
of the yellow fever, or vomito^ have ever occurred here ; and 
when the cholera, in 1837, (five years after the period of its 
ravages in the United States,) devastated the interior, and 
almost depopulated the ports to the northward and south- 
ward, San Juan entirely escaped its visitations. It may safely 
be said that there are few ports, if any, under the tropics of 
equal salubrity. The nature of the soil^ the fact that the 
malaria of the coast is constantly swept back by the north- 
east trades, and that good water may be obtained in abim- 
4ance, at a depth of a few feet below the surface, no doubt, 
contribute to this result. It is, however, a singular circum- 
stance, vouched for by the older residents of San Juan, that 
the island or opposite shore of the harbor, not more than half 



CLIMATE OF SAN JUAN — ^POPULATION. 73 

9 

a nule distant, and which, from the greater depth of water 
immediately fronting it, and other circumstances, seems 
to be the best site for a town, is &tal to those who maj 
attempt to occupy it. A settlement was commenced there a 
number of years ago, but the inhabitants were decimated 
within the first two months ; after which the rest removed to 
the other shore. The same cause, it is said, led to the aban- 
donment of the military works which the Spaniards had 
erected there before the revolt of the colonies. The cause of 
this dijSerence is not apparent, but no doubt as to the fact 
seems to exist among the inhabitants. Foreigners at San 
Juan, however, by observing ordinary and proper precau- 
tions, need not, I am convinced, form exceptions to the gen- 
eral good health of the native inhabitants. 

The temperature of San Juan varies a little with the dif- 
ferent seasons of the year, but is gener^y pleasant, differing 
not much from that of New York in the month of July. 
The range of the thermometer is not, however, so great as it 
is with us during that month. During my stay in June, 1849, 
and upon my return in the same mouth, in 1850, the range 
was from 74** of Fahrenheit at sunrise, to 85° at the hottest 
hour of the day. In the evening there is usually a pleasant 
and invigorating sea-breeze. 

The population of the town does not exceed three hundred, 
having considerably diminished since the English usurpation. 
Besides what may be called the native inhabitants, and who 
exhibit the same characteristics in language, habits, and cus- 
toms with the lower classes in the interior of the state, there 
are a few foreigners, and some Creoles of pure stock, who 
reside here as agents, or consignees of mercantile houses, 
and as commission dealers. There are also the English au- 
thorities, consisting chiefly of negroes from Jamaica. The 
inhabitants, therefore, exhibit every variety of race and com- 
plexion. Whites, Indians, negroes, mestizos, and sambos, — 
black, brown, yellow, andfeir, — all mingle together with the 

.10 



74 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVB. 



• 



Utmost freedom, and in total disregard of those oonvention- 
alities which are founded on caste. In what might be called 
the best families, if it were possible to institute comparisons 
on the wrong side of zero, it is no uncommon thing to find 
three and four shades of complexion, from which it may be 
inferred that the social relations are very lax. This is unfor- 
tunately the fact ; and the examples which have been set 
upon this coast in times past, by Jamaica traders, have not 
had the effect of improving morals. There is neither church 
nor school-house in San Juan, nor indeed in the whole of 
what the English fecetiously call the " Mosquito Kingdom." 
Before the seizure, San Juan was a curacy, dependent upon 
the Diocess of Nicaragua, but subsequently to that event it 
was vacated, in consequence of the obstacles thrown in the 
way of its continuance by the English officials, whose high 
sense of Christian duty would not permit them to tolerate 
anything but the English Church, which is, I believe, the 
established religion throughout the dominions of " His Mos- 
quito Majesty !" Occasionally a priest, in his black robes, is 
seen flitting about the town ; but unless it is desired to find 
out the residence of the prettiest of the nut-brown sefioritas, 
it is not always prudent to inquire too closely into his move- 
ments. 

The dwellings of the inhabitants, as already intimated, are 
of the rudest and most primitive description, and make no 
approach to what, in the United States, would be regarded 
as respectable out-houses. They are, in fact, mere thatched 
sheds, roughly boarded up and floored, or made of a kind of 
wicker work of canes, sometimes plastered over with mud. 
The furniture, which seldom consists of more than a ham- 
mock, a high table, a few chairs, and a bed, is entirely in 
keeping with the edifices. Yet, mean and uninviting as these 
structures are, they answer a very good purpose in a climate 
where anjrthing beyond a roof to keep off the sun and the 
rain may almost be regarded as a superfluity. The he^vy thatoh 



HOUSES — ^INSECTS — ^KIGUAS. 76 

of palm leaves or long grass is an effectual protection against 
tliese, and though it furnishes excellent quarters for scor- 
pions, small serpents, and other pleasant colonists, jet these 
soon cease to excite apprehension, and, with the mice and 
oockroaches, sink into common-places. The sting of the do- 
mestic scorpion, so far as I am able to learn of its effects from 
others, never having myself experienced it, is not much 
worse than that of a wasp or hornet, and seldom produces 
any serious result. The cUacran del Tnonte, scorpion of the 
forest, or wild scorpion, is more to be dreaded; its sting 
sometimes induces fever, causing the tongue to swell so as to 
render utterance difficult, or impossible. This latter never 
inflicts its sting unless pressed upon, or accidentally dis- 
turbed by some part of the person. It is quite as common 
in San Juan as in any part of the country ; being brought 
there probably with the Brazil wood, the knots and cre- 
vices of which afford it an excellent lodgment. And, while 
upon insects, I may mention a kind of a flea, called ni- 
gua or chigoe by the Spaniards, and ^^ jigger" by the West 
Indian English, which generally attacks the feet, working its 
way, without being felt, beneath the skin, and there depositing 
its eggs. A small sack speedily forms around these, which 
constantly increases in size, first creating an itching sensation, 
and afterwards, unless removed, becoming painful. When 
small, it may be extracted without difficulty, but when 
lai^r, the operation is delicate and often painful ; for if the 
sack is broken, a bad ulcer, extremely liable to inflammation, 
and sometimes affecting the entire foot and leg, is a probable 
result. The best surgeon in these cases is an Indian boy, 
who always performs the operation skillfully, and con- 
siders a medio (sixpence) a capital fee for his services. He 
has a sharp eye for " las niguas," and will frequently detect 
them before they are seen or felt by the strangers in whose 
feet they are burrowing. It is well to submit one's pedal 
extremities to his criticism as often as once every three days. 



76 • NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

while sojourning in San Juan, where this insect is more com* 
mon than anywhere else in Central America. When to this 
digression on insects and reptiles, I have added that the har- 
bor is infested by sharks, and that alligators are far from rare 
both there and in the lagunas near the town, the catalogue of 
thijigs annoying and disagreeable to be encountered here is 
nearly complete. But after all, the inconvenience or danger 
fix)m such sources is chiefly imaginary, and exists more in 
anticipation than in reality. 

From what has been said it will be seen that San Juan has 
no resources of its own, and derives its present importance 
solely from the trade which is carried on through it with the 
interior. A considerable part of the exports and imports of 
Nicaragua passes here. The exports are indigo, Brazil wood, 
hides, and bullion, and the imports manufactured goods of 
every description, suitable for general use. The indigo and 
bullion go, in great part, to England, by the British West 
Indian line of steamers, v/'hich touches here monthly, and 
which has already nearly monopolized the carrying of those 
articles of high value but small bulk, upon which it is de- 
sirable to realize quick returns. The Brazil wood and hides, 
on the other hand, pass chiefly to the United States and 
Jamaica. By far the greater proportion of the carrying 
trade is in the hands of Americans, conducted through native 
houses, and through travelling agents in the interior : and 
considerably more than two-thirds of the tonnage entering 
the port is American, An Italian vessel comes once or 
twice a-year, and a couple of French vessels occasionally, as 
also some nondescript coasters, bearing the New Granadian 
or Venezuelan flags. A portion of the trade of Costa Rica, 
• via the rivers San Juan and Serapiqui, is now carried on 
through this port. There are no means of ascertaining its 
value, nor that of the general commerce of San Juan, inas- 
much as no regular tables have been kept at the Custom 
House. Previous to the seizure of the port by the English, 



TRADE — ^EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 77 

in 1848, the duties collected here by the Nicaraguan govern- 
ment amounted to about $100,000 per annum ; and as the 
rate of imposts was about 20 per cent., the value of the im- 
ports may be approximately calculated at nearly $500,000. 
Since the English usurpation, the trade has seriously dimin- 
ishedf in consequence of the depression and imcertainty 
which it has created in the interior, and which have induced 
many of the native merchants to contract their business. 
The additional duties levied by the usurping authorities have 
also contributed to the same results. They have imposed an 
import and export duty of 21 per cent, ad valorem, and made 
other onerous restrictions on commerce. Under these, they 
have nevertheless lately farmed out the customs at $10,000 
per annum, which, as this is apart from the cost of collection, 
implies a trade of at least $300,000.* The actual trade of 
the port may now be roughly estimated at $400,000, not allow- 
ing for the increase which has already followed the general 
commercial activity induced by the California movement, nor 
for the direct influences of the partial opening of the Nica- 
ragua route of transit, and the consequent direction of public 
attention and individual enterprise to that portion of the 
Central American Isthmus. As the trade of Nicaragua, by 
way of this port must pass through the river San Juan, the 
Nicaraguan Customs Establishment has been fixed at the old 
Fort of San Carlos, at the head of the river, on the lake. 
The average rate of duty exacted under the Nicaraguan 
tariff, is about 21 per cent, ad valorem,* which, added to the 

' Since the above was written, the collection of customs at San Juan, 
from motiyes of policy, has been atupendedj but not permanently aban- 
doned, by the British Qovemment. 

• It should be mentioned, however, that although the Nicaraguan tariff 
is nominally 21 per cent, ad valorem, yet as one half of the amount of 
duties may be paid in Government vales^ or notes, which range from ten 
to axty per cent in value, according to their class and date, it is practi- 
ally not more than 15 per cent 



78 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVB. 

British impositions at San Juan, makes the total duty to be 
paid on articles passing into the interior about 24 per cent. 

When the political questions connected with British 
aggressions in Nicaragua shall have been satisfetctorily and 
permanently adjusted, and the projected canal really com- 
menced, this port will become one of the first importance, if 
not the most important, on the continent Its prospective 
value can hardly be estimated ; for apart from its position in 
respect to the proposed work, it is the only Atlantic port of 
one of the finest countries under the tropics, possessing inex- 
haustible agricultural and mineral resources, which recent 
movements indicate with certainty are destined to a speedy 
development. 

As already observed, this is the only possible Atlantic 
terminus for the j(probably) only possible ship-canal route 
across the continent. And this is to be regarded as the great 
/ and controlling fact which led to its seizure by the English, 
\ at the moment when it became certain that California would 
fall into the hands of the United States, and the question of 
an inter-oceanic communication became one of immediate 
. and practical importance. The seizure, it is well known, 
was made under the shallow pretext of supporting the terri- 
torial pretensions of a tribe of savages, or mixed negroes and 
Indians, called Moscos, or Mosquitos, and in virtue of some 
equivocal relations which the pirates of Jamaica anciently 
maintained with them. When, however, it is known that 
this was the principal port of entry of Nicaragua under the 
Spanish dominion ; that for more than three hundred years 
it was the avenue through which its trade was conducted ; 
that the river flowing past it was defended by massive and 
costly works, which, although in ruins, are yet imposing; 
that no Mosquito Indian ever resided here; that all its 
inhabitants were, and wath the exception of a few foreign 
merchants and the English officials, still are Nicaraguans; 
and that England herself recognized it as pertaining to 



THE BRITISH OCXJUFATION. 79 

l^icaragua by blockading it as a part of her territories ; and 
when to all this is added the &ct, that the Mosquito Indians 
never, themselves, pretended to any territorial rights here or 
elsewhere, until induced to do so by British agents, the 
enormity of the seizure is rendered apparent. But as the 
&cts connected with these and similar encroachments will 
form the subject of a separate chapter, it is unnecessary to 
refer further to them here. Since the seizure of the port, 
and in ludicrous commentary on the assertion of the British 
Government, that its sole design in taking that step was the 
^'re^establishment of Mosquito rights and authority," its 
municipal and other regulations, not excepting its port 
charges and customs' rates, have been promulgated and fixed 
by an officer styling himself " Her Britannic Majesty's Con- 
sul," or " Vice Consul ;" who has for his executive force a 
few Jamaica negroes, called, probably in irony, "police." 
He is, in &ct, dictator of the place, and the inhabitants are 
subject without appeal to his will, for there are no written 
laws or fixed regulations of any kind. He assumes to dispose 
of lands, and gives titles imder his consular seal ; nor does 
he, ever so remotely, appear to recognize the so-called 
Mosquito King. Indeed, the only evidence that this farcical 
character is held in remembrance at all is that a fiag, said to 
be his, is occasionally hoisted in an open space in the centre 
of the town. The English flag, however, floats over what is 
called the Custom House, and is the only one for which any 
degree of respect is exacted. The new tariff, promulgated 
here in April, 1850, was signed "J. M. Daly, Collector," and 
did not purport to have been enacted by any superior 
authority. Indeed, the present situation of the town, over- 
awed as it constantly is by one or twa British vessels, is 
anomalous in the extreme. If, as it is pretended, this port 
belongs to the supposititious Mosquito King, it is diflScult to 
understand how a second party can exercise sovereignty 
over it; or upon what principles of international law the 



80 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

consuls of one nation can assume municipal and general 
administrative authority in the ports of another. The simple 
&ct is, that Great Britain, having secured possession of thiB 
important port, under a pretext which deceives nobody, no 
longer cares to stultify herself by aflfecting to conform to that 
pretext. The thing is too absurd to be continued. 

The River San Juan reaches the ocean by several mouths. 
The divergence takes place about twenty miles from the sea. 
forming a low delta, penetrated by numerous canalis, or, as 
they are called on the Lower Mississippi, bayous^ and lagunas. 
The principal branch is the Colorado, which carries off at 
least two-thirds of the water of the river, and which empties 
into the ocean some ten or fifteen miles to the southward of 
the port. There is an almost impassable bar at the entrance, 
which would preclude the ascent of vessels, even if the depth 
of water above permitted of their proceeding after it was 
passed. The little steamer "Orus," nevertheless, after 
repeated trials, succeeded in passing it in August last There 
is another small channel called the Taura, which reaches the 
sea midway between the port and the mouth of the Colorado. 
The branch flowing into the harbor, the one through which 
the ascending and descending boats pass, carries off only 
about one-third of the water of the river. It has also a bar 
at the mouth, that is, at its point of debouchure into the 
harbor, upon which, at low tide, there are but three or four 
feet of water. This passed, the bed of the river is wide and 
studded with low islands; but excepting in the channel, 
which is narrow and crooked, the water is very shallow. It 
has been suggested that the Colorado branch might be 
dammed, and a greater column of water thrown into the 
other, or San Juan branch. But this suggestion can only be 
made by those who are wholly unacquainted with the sub- 
ject. Allowing it to be possible to build a dam, the stream 
would find a new channel to the sea ; or if it took the direc- 
tion of the harbor, fill it up, during the first rainy season, with 



NAVIGATION OP THE SAN JUAN. 81 

mud, or at once destroy the sandy barriers which now form 
and protect it As will be seen, when I come to speak of 
the practicability of a canal, the utmost that can be done 
with the river is to dredge out the channel to the Colorado, 
and remove some of the obstacles at the various rapids above, 
after which it might be navigated by small steamers. It cannot 
be made navigable for ships or vessels of any kind, except 
of the lightest draught, by any practicable system of improve- 
ments. 

The boats used upon the river for carrying freight and 
passengers are exaggerated canoes, called bongos, ' Some are 
hollowed from a single tree, but the better varieties are built, 
with some degree of skill, from the timber of the cedro^ a 
very light and durable kind of wood, which grows abundantly 
about the lakes. The largest of these carry from eight to 
ten tons, and draw two or three feet of water when loaded. 
They are long, and rather deep and narrow, and have, when 
folly manned, from eight to twelve oarsmen, who drive the 
boot by means of long sweeps and setting-poles. Sails are 
seldom if ever used, except upon the lake. The masts are 
unshipped and left at the head of the river in descending, 
and resumed again in returning. These boats have a small 
space near the stern, called the " chopa^^^ covered with a board 
roo^ a thatch of palm leaves, or with hides, which is assigned 
to the passengers. The rest of the boat is open, and the 
oarsmen, or, as they call themselves, marineros, sailors, are 
without protection, and sleep upon their benches at night, 
covered only with their blankets, and with the gunwale of 
the boat for a common pillow. The captain, or patron, is 
the steersman, and occupies a narrow deck at the stem, called 
the pineta^ upon which he also sleeps, coiling himself up in a 
knot, if the boat is small and the pineta narrow. The freight, 
if hable to damage from exposure, is covered with raw hides, 
which, between sun and rain, soon diffuse an odor very un- 
like the perfumes which are said to load the breezes of Arabia 

11 



82 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

the Blest The usual freight from San Juan toGranadai 
a distance of one hundred and sixty or one hundred and 
seventy miles, is from thirty to fifty cents per cwt ; if the 
articles are bulky, it is more. The boatmen are paid from 
seven to eight dollars the trip, down from Granada and back, 
which usually occupies fi'om twenty to thirty days, although 
with proper management it might be made in less time. 
Time, however, in these regions is not regarded as of much 
importance, and everything is done very leisurely. It is 
only in active communities that its value is considered, 
"i Columbus coasted along the entire eastern shore of Central 
America, from Cape Honduras to Nombre de Dios, or Chagres, 
in 1502, and was probably the first discoverer of the Port of 
San Juan. In 1529, Captain Biego Machuca, residing in 
the city of Granada, on Lake Nicaragua, undertook the 
exploration of that lake, discovered its outlet, passed down 
the San Juan to the port at its mouth, and sailed thence to 
Nombre de Dios. The principal rapids in the stream still bears 
his name. We are informed by the historian Gt)nzalo Fer- 
nandez de Oviedo y Valdez, who was in Nicaragua in 1529, 
and was personally acquainted with Machuca, that the latter 
projected a colony at the mouth of the river, but was inters 
rupted in his design by Robles, commandant at Nombre de 
Dios, who contemplated the same enterprise. At how early 
a date the Spanish made establishments at San Juan, is not 
known ; but it is a historical fact, that early in the seventeenth 
century a fort exLsted at San Carlos, which was captured by 
the English in 1665, but recovered by De Mencos and De 
Caldas, officers of Spain in the then Kingdom of Guatemala. 
(Juarros^ History of die Kingdom of Ovatenidla^ Sally's Trans.^ 
p. 67.) In consequence of this event, a royal decree was 
issued, commanding that the entrance of the river should be 
fortified ; which order was carried into effect by Don Fer- 
nando de Escobeda, who examined the port and river, and 
built a fort in obedience to his instructions. It is also a his- 



HISTORICAL KOTICES. 88 

(orical fiM5t, that at the period of the rebuilduig of the Fort of 
San Juan, on the river above, about 1727, a garrison was 
maintained here. At that time not less than twelve military 
stations existed on the river ; the first was at San Carlos, at 
the head of the stream ; the second at the mouth of the Rio 
Savalos ; the third, a short distance from the mouth of the Bio 
Poco Sol ; the fourth, the Castle of San Juan ; the fifth, the 
Island of Bartola ; sixth, a high bank below the Rapids de 
los Valos, called ^^ Diamante f^ seventh, at the Rapids of 
Machuca ; eighth, on an island at the mouth of the River 
San Carlos ; ninth, at the mouth of the Rio San Francisco ; 
tenth, at the mouth of the Serapiqui ; eleventh, at the point 
called " Conception," opposite an island of the same name ; 
and twelfth, at the Port of San Juan itself, with an inter- 
mediate temporary station called " Rosario." 

The commerce of Nicaragua with Europe and the West 
Indies was always carried on through this port; and we 
have records of as early a date as 1665, of vessels clearing 
for the ports of Spain fi-om the city of Granada. San Juan 
was made a port of entry by royal order of the King of 
Spain, dated February 26, 1796. By a royal order of the 
27th of March following, regulations were made for promoting 
the settlement of the country in the neighborhood of that 
port, among which was one authorizing the introduction, in 
the ports of Spain, of dye and other woods cut there, or of 
coffee grown there^ free of duty. From this period an aug- 
mented military force was kept up at San Juan, and in 1821 
additional defences were erected for their protection, as may 
be seen by the order of the Captain-General of Guatemala, of 
the date of May 2, 1821. Upon the declaration of indepen- 
dence, the royal troops were expelled by the patriots of 
Nicaragua, by whom the port was indisputably occupied 
until the British seizure in January, 1848. 



CHAPTER III. 

MIONATES OF SAN JUAN — OAPTAIN SAMUEL SHEPHERD— ROTAL GRANTS — 
^VEUnOUS DELAYS — ^DfPOSINO DEPARTURE — ENTRANCE OF THE RIVER SAN 
•»UA5 — "peeling" of THE MARINEROS— CHARACTER OF THE STREAM — THE 
^aUANILLO— AN IMMEMORLAL STOPPING-PLACE — ^BONGOSf AND THEIR EQUIPMENTS 
-AXD STORES — ^MEALS — ESPRIT DE CORPS AMONG THE BOATMEN — THE " ORA- 
CION"— <IUEER CAPRICES — ^MEDIO— OUR ACCOMMODATIONS — ^A SPECIMEN NIGHT 
«» THE RITER — MORNING SCENES AND IMPRESSIONS — ^BONGO LIFE — THE COLO- 
RADO MOUTH — CHANGE OF SCENERT — THE IGUANA — ^A SOUTART ESTABLISH- 
MEHT — ^TROPICAL EASE — THE RIO SERAPIQUI — FIGHT BETWEEN THE NIOARA- 
GCA9S AND THE ENGLISH — " A FAMOUS VICTORY" — THE RIO SAN FRANCISCO— 
REMOUNO GRANDE — ^PICTURESQUE RIVER VIEWS — THE HILLS AND PASS OF SAN 
CABLOS — THUNDER STORMS — THE MACHUCA RAPIDS — ^MELCHORA INDIANS — 
BAPIDS OF MIOO AND LOS VALOS — RAPIDS OF THE CASTILLO— ISLAND OF BAR- 
TOLA— CAPTURE BY LORD NELSON — THE " CASTILLO VIEJO," OR OLD CASTLE OF 

8AN JUAN "a DIOS CALIFORNIA I" — ASCEND TO THE RUINS — STRONG 

WORKS— CAPTURE OF THE FORT BY THE ENGLISH IN 1780 — FAILURE OF THE 
EXPEDITION AGAINST NICARAGUA ; A SCRAP OF HISTORY — PASSAGE OF THE 

RAPIDS ^DIFFERENT ASPECT OF THE RIVER — A BLACK EAGLE — NINETY MILES 

IN SIX DAYS — THE FORT OF SAN CARLOS GREAT LAKE OF NICARAGUA — 

LAND AT SAN CARLOS — ^THE COMMANDANTE — HEARTY WELCOME — NOVEL SCENES 
— ^ANCIENT DEFENCES — ^VIEW FROM THE FORT — THE RIO FRIO — ^THE GUATOSOS 
INDIANS — A PARADISE FOR ALUGATORS, AND SOME HAPPY INSTITUTIONS OF 



Most small communities have in their midst one or two 
resident notabilities, who are regarded something in the light 
of oracles, and to whom general deference is acceded. San 
Juan is not an exception ; and Captain Samuel Shepherd is 
at once, per se^ a personage so characteristic and so associated 
and identified with the place, that no description of San 
Juan would be complete in which he failed to be a promi- 



86 NICARAGUA — NABBATIVE. 

« 

nent feature. His residence is the most pretentious edifice 
in San Juan ; it is, in fact, the architectural wonder of the 
place, inasmuch as it is not only a framed building, but has 
a shingled roof and glazed windows. It was built by Cap- 
tain Shepherd, in his more prosperous days, when he was the 
principal trader on the coast from Boca del Toro to Yucatan, 
and before age had crippled his energies, and reverses dissi- 
pated his fortune. He is now old and nearly blind, but hale, 
cheerful, intelligent, and communicative, and capable of 
giving more information relative to the coast than any man 
living. He Seldom leaves his hammock, which is swung in 
the principal room of his house, and in which he receives all 
his visitors. We called upon him, on the second day after 
our arrival, and were received with every demonstration of 
respect. The captain was never more eloquent, and although 
he had always been classed as an Englishman, yet he said 
he was born in the United States, and meant to claim its 
* protection as a citizen. He had been appointed " Governor 
I of the Port," or some such nominal and trumpery office, by 
the British Consul, by way of conciliation, but he was not to 
be taken in so easily ; and as for the orders which had been 
promulgated in his name, concerning the pigs and chickens, 
he protested it was altogether the consul's doings ; he had 
shut up neither the one nor the other, and regarded these 
animals quite as good citizens as the rest ; the consul might 
shoot any of them, (pigs or citizens,) if he dared. And as 
for the pretended English protectorate, and the authority 
assumed under it, the one was a fraud and the other an im- 
position; for whatever title the Mosquito Indians ever 
possessed, had been formally transferred and secured to him. 
And the captain here produced, from a very closely locked 
and substantial case, a variety of parchment grants and con- 
veyances, bearing the " his + mark" of " Robert Charles 
Frederick," father of the little Sambo boy now wearing the 
Mosquitian purple, in which it was duly set forth and attested 



CAPTAIN SHEPHERD. 87 

that '^upon the 24th of January, 1889, in consideration of 
the true and laudable services rendered to us by Samuel 
^pherd, etc., we, Eobert Charles Frederick, King of the 
Mosquito nation, of our special grace, and of our certain 
knowledge and free motion, have given and granted, and by 
these presents, sealed with our seal, do give and grant unto 
the said Samuel Shepherd, etc., all that tract of land lying 
between Blewfields River on the north, and San Juan River 
on the south," etc., etc., in the most approved form, and with 
royal prolixity, all of which is duly witnessed, together with 
the peaceable transfer and possession of the territory in ques- 
tion, approved by General Slam, Admiral Rodney, Lord Nel- 
son, and other equally distinguished personages,* comprising 
the august council of the breechless but imperial " Robert 
Charles Frederick." Several other similar and equally 
formal documents were produced, in which the various 
Mosquito potentates had transferred to Mr. Shepherd and his 
associates about two-thirds of their pretended kingdom. 
When, in 1841, the English government sent its agents here 
to secure the country as a dependency on the British Empire, 
their first act was to procure the revocation of these grants, 
by the young Sambo, " George William Clarence," which 
was accordingly done ; the act of revocation setting forth, in 
a most unfilial way, that " his late majesty was not in his 
right mind when he made them," that is, was drunk/ But 
Captain Shepherd protests that the revocation was procured 

• 

^ Like most savages, the Mosquito Indians are exceedingly vain, not 
less of nftines than apparel It is a common thing to see a black fellow, 
without hat, shirt, or breeches, strutting through the little Indian towns 
on the coast, in a buttonless military jacket, purchased from a Jew's (uist- 
oflT clothing shop in Kingston, and given to him by some Jamaica trader 
in exchange for turtle shells. In nine cases out of ten the wearer proclaims 
his name to be Lord Wellington, General Wolfe, or Lord Nelson, or some 
other equally distinguished name, which he has heard the traders mention. 
The lowest rank thus assumed is that of General 



88 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

throngh the influence of Jamaica rum, that his titles are in 
no degree impaired by it, and that the " his + mark" of one 
savage is as good as that of another. He regards the British 
occupation, therefore, as a direct invasion of his rights and 
sovereignty, and insists that if the port does not belong to 
Nicaragua, it certainly does to him ; a sequitur which we at 
once admitted, much to the captain's satisfaction, and to his 
admiration of American justice, discrimination, and judg- 
r ment. 

Once off from his hobby, the old sailor was more interest- 
ing, if less amusing, and talked of matters in general in a 
manner highly original. HLs account of the relations which 
existed between the mixed brood of Indians and Negroes on 
the coasts, and the Jamaica traders, was given with a direct- 
ness somewhat startling to persons not yet emancipated from 
the conventional rigors of the United States, but which con- 
stituted the best evidence of its truth. To say that these 
relations were exceedingly free and easy, is hardly explicit 
enough, as will be admitted when it is known that the visit 
of the traders was looked forward to as a kind of festival, 
when all ages and sexes abandoned themselves to general 
drunkenness and indiscriminate licentiousness. Every old 
trader had a number of children at every landing-place or 
settlement on the coast ; and on the occasion of each visit, 
he impiously baptized all those which he conceived might 
be his own. This indiscriminate intercourse, it can readily 
be imagined, has resulted in a complete demoralization of the 
natives, and has been attended by physical consequences 
quite as deplorable as those, which have followed the inter- 
course of Europeans with some of the Pacific Islands. These 
relations were established by the pirates, when they thronged 
the Spanish main, from Jamaica as a centre, and they are 
now referred to, by the British government, as an evidence 
of ancient alliance, and in support of an assumed protector- 
ate ! It was not without a feeUng of sympathy for the almost 



OUB BONGO ; " LA GBANADINA." 89 

sightless old captain, that we left him swinging in his ham- 
jnock, where he is doubtless yet to be found, clinging hope- 
folly to his parchment titles. 

We remained six days at San Juan, at the end of which 
time, having witnessed a promiscuous affair called a fendango, 
not at all spiritualized by the West Indian variations on the 
none-too-delicate original, and exhausted the limited stock of 
£vmusements which the place affords, besides having become 
<3ompletely wearied with the low, monotonous scenery, and 
not a little disgusted because of the absence of those tropical 
luxuries of which we had formed so high anticipations, we 
^were anxious for a change. But few boats arrived from the 
interior, in consequence of an attempted revolution, and these 
Irought accounts of the state of affairs, which we afterwards 
found were much exaggerated, but which made us especially 
anxious to proceed on our journey. When, therefore, our 
l^aggage and stores had been fished up from the hold of the 
JPrances, and piled in dire confusion in the middle of our 
partitionless house, no time was lost in preparing for our 
departure. Through the assistance of my colored friend, we 
had engaged one of the largest bongos then in port for our 
exclusive accommodation, paying dearly for the stipulation 
that no freight beyond our own should be taken, — an unne- 
cessary precaution, by the way, of which our colored friend 
neglected to inform us, for the troubles in the interior pre- 
vented the merchants from shipping goods in that direction, 
and had it not been for our opportune arrival, the boat must 
have gone empty. This bongo bore the name of "La Gra- 
nadina," and looked not wholly uncomfortable as she lay at 
her moorings, just off the shore. She had a crew of ten 
stalwart oarsmen, and was particularly commended on account 
of her patron^ Pedro, one of the patriarchs of the river, who, 
amongst his other accomplishments, spoke a little English, of 
which, for a wonder, he was not at all vain. As soon as the 
arrangement was completed, our marineros made court to us 

12 



90 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

most assiduously, fairly hustling each other for the honor 
(worth a medio) of carrying the members of our party back- 
wards and forth from " La Grenadina." One of the number, 
a slight but well-proportioned Mestizo; was a subject for the 




OUR BONGO— '^LA OBANADINA." 



Washingtonians, and won the soubriquet of " Medio," from 
his frequent applications for sixpence. On these occafiions 
he would gravely take off his hat, and throwing himself in a 
theatrical attitude, bring his closed left hand with Forrestian 
force on his naked breast, exclaiming, " Soy un hombre bueno /" 
I am a good man I It was worth the money to witness the 
relapse from dignity to servility when the coin touched hie 
palm. Medio little thought how strict a parallel he afforded 
to men in other countries, and loftier spheres of action. 
Medio^s price was sixpence, although he had served as ser- 
geant in the army, and distinguished himself among the 
" veteranos." 

The day of our departure had been fixed for the 12th, at 
four in the morning, and Pedro had promised faithfully to 
have all things in readiness. With the anticipation of an 
early start, we bade all our friends good-bye over night, and 
retired early, declining any provision for breakfast on shore, 
lest we might cause delays in the morning. Morning came, 
but not a sailor was to be seen near the " La Granadina," 
except the one who had kept watch over night ; the rest, he 
said, would be there "mwy joro/ito," very soon; whereupon 
he dodged beneath the chopoy and composed himself for 
another nap. We waited an hour on the shore ; meantime 



VEXATIOUS DELAYS. * 91 

the sun came up, door after door was unbarred, and the 
people came streaming down to the water to perform their 
morning ablutions, evidently greatly puzzled to account for 
our presence there. Their salutations seemed to conceal a 
T'aat deal of irony, and I fear were not returned with the 
utmost amiability. At eight o'clock, after firmly resolving 
to hold Pedro to a strict accountability for his delinquency, 
^e returned in high indignation to our old quarters, and 
^lespatched orders for breakfast. To our infinite surprise, 
Monsieur S- had already prepared it. He received us with a 
smile, and when the meal was finished, coolly asked our 
preferences for dinner 1 This was rather too severe an en- 
forcement of our first lesson in native delays, and led to an 
explanation, in the course of which Monsieur told us that he 
had long since found out the absurdity of attempting to ad- 
vise Americans in such matters ; and ended with the assur- 
ance that if we got off by the middle of the afternoon we 
might regard ourselves as particularly fortunate. We nevei- 
theless returned to the shore, and found part of the crew had 
assembled, and were collecting wood and arranging their 
kettles preparatory to making breakfest. Never was any- 
thing performed more deliberately ; and the meal itself was dis- 
posed of with equal deliberation. It was nearly eleven when 
the kettles were again placed in the boat, and quite twelve 
when Pedro made his appearance. Fortunately for his sable 
skin, our impatience had taken the chronic form of dogged 
endurance, and we sat amongst boxes, trunks, and guns, silent 
and grim, but cherishing the determination to make ourselves 
even with the vagabonds before we got through with them. 
Monsieur S. proved to be right ; and it was late in the after- 
noon before the last straggler was got in, and the signal was 
given for starting. We severally mounted on the naked 
shoulders of the men, and were deposited on the pineta^ a 
novel mode of embarkation with which we afterwards became 
fiimiliar. The sailors took their places, and Pedro, with a 



92 NICARAGUA— NABRATIVE. 

great concji shell in one hand, gravely stationed himself at 
the tiller. The sweeps were raised, and every eye was fixed 
on the Patron, who glanced over the crew, as much as to ask 
" all'ready?" and then, raising the shell to his lips, gave a 
long, unearthly blast. The sweeps fell simultaneously into 
the water, the men uttered a hoo-pah^ the crowd on the beach 
shouted, the women waved their rebozos, while Ben unfurled 
the American flag at the bow. La Granadina seemed to fly 
through the water, and our friend, the Consul General, pro- 
truded his head from his hospitable garret, and waved his 
adieus as we swept by. The crew of the little Francis also 
hurrahed from her shrouds, and altogether, as Pedro, drop- 
ping his conch, proudly observed, it was a demonstration 
worthy of the occasion. He evidently thought it would tell 
well in the United States I 

We were too glad to get off, to care much for anything 
else ; nor did we experience many regrets when we took our 
last look at the long, low line of huts, and found ourselves 
shut in by the green banks of the river. Fairly in the 
stream, and out of sight of the town, the oars were drawn 
aboard, and every marinero stripped himself of his scanty 
clothing, which was carefully wrapped up, and deposited in 
a jirotected place, nor put on again until we reached the head 
of the river. This somewhat startling ceremony over, each man 
lighted a segar and resumed his oar ; but the strokes were 
now leisurely made, and the severe realities of the voyage 
commenced. For some miles the banks of the river, as also 
the numerous islands which studded it, were low, covered with 
canes, and with a species of tall grass called gamalote. In 
places the stream was compressed between the islands, with 
a rapid current; while elsewhere it spread out in broad, 
glassy reaches, of great apparent depth, but shallow every- 
where except in the channel ; which, as the bed of the river 
is sand, is narrow and tortuous, and constantly shifting. A 
few miles above the harbor, we came to where the Juanillo, 



THE BIYEB JUANILLO. 98 

''little John," rejoins the river, firom which it diverges some 
twenty-five miles above the mouth. After winding through 
the low grounds back of San Juan, spreading out into lagu- 
nas, and at one place into a considerable lake, it returns to 
the main stream, purple with vegetable infusions. The 
Indians sometimes penetrate this channel in canoes, for the 
purpose of shooting the wild fowl which people its marshy, 
pestilent borders, and of killing the manitus, which here finds 
& congenial solitude. 

During the rainy season the whole marshy region through 
which the Juanillo flows is covered with water, as is also 
nearly the entire delta of the river, which, in the ordinary 
stages, is nowhere elevated more than a few feet above the 
liver. It was now the commencement of the rains in the 
interior ; the stream was rising, and, as our fi'eight was com- 
paratively light, we were enabled to proceed without much 
difficulty. We nevertheless sometimes ran aground, on 
which occasions our men leaped overboard, and putting their 
shoulders under the boat, lifted it off. The bongos are some- 
times obliged, both in ascending and descending, to take out 
part of their freight, and depositing the remainder beyond the 
shallower sections of the river, return again for it. This, 
however, occurs only during the dry season, when the river 
has probably not more tlian half the volume which it pos- 
sesses during the period of the rains. 

In the exhilaration of our departure we had quite forgotten 
the disappointment of the morning, and had abandoned our- 
selves to the enjoyment of the novelty alike of our circum- 
stances and the scenery. But our day's annoyances were not 
complete. After paddling for perhaps five miles, we came 
to where the banks had more firmness, and were a trifle 
higher than below, and where the canes and long grass gave 
way to a rank growth of palms ; their broad leaves forming a 
roof impenetrable to the sun. Here, at a place where the 
undergrowth had been removed, and the trees rose like 



94 NICARAGUA— KABRAliy£. 

gothic columns, with evergreen arches, covering cool, . dark 
vistas, our boat was quietly thrust in shore, and we were 
astonished with preparations for another meal. We remon- 
strated, but it was of no use ; all the bongos had stopped 
here from time immemorial, and Pedro told us, in broken 
iBnglish, that the demonio could not get the sailors by. And 
(edro himself sat deliberately down on the pineta^ and turn- 
up his toes, began a grand hunt for niguas. Some of the 
kn followed'the example of the Patron, others lifted out the 
ke^les, and still others built a fire. 

!very bongo, on leaving the interior, takes on board a 
large number of plantains, not yet fully ripe, and which are 
therefore called verdes. These are detached from the stalk, 
" corded up" in the bow of the boat, and constitute the prin- 
cipal reliance of the men. A few, that are nearly or quite 
ripe, called maduras^ are also taken on board for immediate 
use. Besides these, there is a box of jerked beef, or what 
the Americans ironically call yard heef^ — ^i. e. beef cut in long 
strips and dried in the sun. Some bottles of manieca (lard), 
or a quantity of kidney fat and a bag of rice are added, and 
then the substantial supplies for the voyage are complete. 
The cookery is very simple. Stakes are driven in the ground 
to support the kettle, in which is first put a portion of fat, 
next a layer of platanos verdes from which the skin has been 
stripped, then a layer of beef cut in smaljjpieces, a calabash 
of rice, some salt, and so on until the kettle is filled. Water 
is poured over all, and the whole is thoroughly boiled. 
While this is going on, the men amuse themselves with 
roasting bits of meat on the ends of pointed stjicks. Nothing 
can be wilder or more picturesque than 4^ozen naked, 
swarthy figures crouched around the fire, in the deep sha- 
dows of the forest, protecting their faces from the heat with 
their hands, and keeping up the while a most vociferous dis- 
cussion, generally about the merits of this or that bongo, or 
upon some other subject of equal interest to themselvea 



LOS HABINEBOS. 95 

When the mess in the kettle is cooked, each one fills his 
calabash, and with his fingers or a cocoa-nut spoon disposes 
of it at his leisure. As the ''yard beef' has always a most 
SQspicioua odor, I could bring myself to taste the con- 
tents of the kettle but once. I must do the marineros the 
justice to say that it was not an unsavory dish. It is always 
arranged to have half a kettle full of the compound over, to 
which the men help themselves at their pleasure. 

Besides these common stores, every sailor has a private 
stock, consisting, generally, of a bag of tiste, (parched com, 
ground with cacao and sugar,) which is mixed with water, 
making a nourishing and most delicious beverage. He has 
also a few cakes of chancacaj or, as he calls it, dulce, i. e., un- 
refined sugar, which he eats in its raw state. A few stalks 
of sugar-cane are almost always to be found stowed away 
amongst the freight, upon which the men entertain them- 
selves after the anchor is cast for the night. In fact, when 
they are not sleeping or at the oars, they are eating or smok- 
ingy and are as loquacious as a flock of parrots. A stranger 
^would suppose they were constantly on the verge of a gen- 
eral quarrel. Yet, like the arrieros of Mexico, these men 
are, with few exceptions, good-tempered, honest, and trust- 
^worthy, and have an esprit de corps amongst them which is 
carefully kept up. They are governed by certain conven- 
tional rules, which none dare violate ; and their quarrels are 
jgeneraUy referred to the decision of the older and more in- 
fluential individuals of their own number. 

It was nearly sunset when the meal was finished ; the boat 
was pushed out in the stream, and we were once more on our 
way. We had now come to that part of the river where the 
long, broad reaches commence, and were moving slowly and 
almost noiselessly along in the shadow of the trees, on the 
tops of which the sunlight was shining, when suddenly, as if. 
by a simultaneous impulse, the sweeps were raised, and each 
% sailor reverently took off his hat, — ^the hour of the oracum 



96 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

had come. The bowman commenced the evening chaunt^ 
the chorus of which was taken up by the entire crew, with a 
precision, in respect to cadence and time, which could only 
result firom long practice. There was certainly something 
impressive in the apparent devotion of these rude men, apart 
from the effect of the melody itself, caught up as it was by 
the echoes, and prolonged in the forest solitudes. Yet the 
impression was destroyed by one of those freaks in which the 
natives of this country seem to delight, and which constantly 
outrage the traveller's sense of propriety. No sooner was 
the chaunt concluded, than all hands gave a shout, and bend- 
ing to the sweeps, pulled like madmen for a few minutes, and 
then as suddenly stopped again, and broke out in a paroxysm 
of laughter. 

We afterwards frequently witnessed the same proceeding, 
but could never discover the reason for it, probably because 
there was no reason in the case. We came, in the end, to 
look upon it as a simple ebullition of animal feeling. The 
fit of laughter over, the men pulled steadily for a couple of 
hours, keeping time to a kind of round which was certainly 
not without a degree of melody, but which was chiefly 
acceptable because it required a full and rapid swing of the 
sweeps, and was therefore favorable to speed. We always 
applauded it, and when impatient of our slow progress, ex- 
ercised our ingenuity to introduce it as frequently as possible 
without creating suspicion of the object. Our friend " Medio," 
however, sharper than the rest, detected us; but he was 
adroit enough to turn his wit to account, by exacting extra 
allowances of our ardlente as the reward of his silence. 

It was long after dark when we came to anchor in the 
midst of the stream, at a point above the gamcUote islands, 
which are always densely populated with mosquitoes. For 
this reason the bongos never stop over night near them, if it 
can be avoided. The sailors have also a fancy, whether well- 
founded or otherwise I am unprepared to say, that noise will 



BOKGO LIFE. 97 

attract these annoying visitors. The sweeps are therefore 
pulled on board, and the anchor run out as silently as possi- 
l>le, and all conversation thereafter is carried on in a sup- 
pressed voice. 

One night on the river is much like all others, and our 
iirst may be taken as an " average" example of our noctur- 
nal experiences. The trunks of the party had been packed 
iDeneath the chopa^ with principal reference to a level sur&ce. 
XJpon these were spread ponchos, blankets, and whatever 
might contribute to relieve the imyielding sub-stratum, whUe 
^he carpet bags, and gutta-percha pouches were reserved for 
pillows. A stout cord was fSetstened close imder the roo^ 
over which were hung a change of linen, and a few necessary 
Articles of dress. Here too were slung, in easy reach, and 
^th special regard to convenience in case of necessity, our 
^ons, pistols, and bowie knives, with the requisite ammuni- 
tion. A few books and materials for drawing were be- 
stowed on a shelf beneath the pinetoL, where also Ben had 
established the commissariat department, — one which, above 
all others, is not to be neglected in ascending the San Juan. It 
was barely possible to sit erect beneath the chopa; and* ex- 
cepting the narrow space between it and the first bench, 
there was no room to stand, unless we encroacfied upon the 
Patron's pineta, — ^which, it may be mentioned, we were not 
scrupulous in doing. Here, notwithstanding the heat of the 
sun, I passed most of the day, to the thorough embrowning 
of every exposed part of the person. The thatched chopoy a 
paradise for insects, was covered with raw hides, and two 
immense ones were fixed at either end. When it rained, 
these were let down, converting the interior into a kind of 
oven, intolerably close and hot. After one or two trials, we 
preferred to take the risk of getting wet to that of being 
suffocated by the heat, and would not allow them to be low- 
ered. In fSawjt, after repeated wettings, their stench became 
unendurable, and we had them removed entirely, much to 

18 



98 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

the astonishment of Pedro, who really seemed to relish the 
smell of putrescent hides I In the first class bongos, which 
have board roofe, with close joints, this annoyance is obvi- 
ated. In these the traveller also finds a refuge on the top of 
the chopa^ fix)m the discomforts of the interior. 

We sat up late, watching the men, who gathered in a group 
near the bow of the boat, each with a cigar in his mouth, a 
handkerchief bound round his head, and a blanket thrown 
over his shoulders. There they sat for hours, keeping up 
conversation in a low tone, and with every appearance of 
great earnestness. Finally, however, they broke oflf one by 
one, and stretched themselves each on his own hard bencL 
Ben, too, who had been with Fremont across the continent, 
had travelled all over Mexico, and was consequently a phi- 
losopher after his way, took to the only vacant bench, while 
Pedro coiled himself in a heap on the pinetcu The night 
was threatening, no stars were visible, and we could only 
discern the dark water sweeping past us, by the light of the 
" fire-fly lamps." An alligator occasionally plunged heavily 
in the stream, but excepting the water rippling under the 
bow, all else was silent 

It was past midnight when the drops of an approaching 
shower warned us to seek the shelter of the diopa. We 
found our quarters sufficiently narrow, and the .trunks, spite 
of ponchos and blankets, portentously hard. Yet, thanks 
to former experiences, I was soon asleep, and slumbered 
soundly until morning. A few straggling mosquitos, how- 
ever, had disturbed my companions, who were up long 
before me, unrefreshed and complaining. Although it was 
hardly sunrise, we had been moving for two or three hours, 
and were past the Tauro mouth of the San Juan, and 
approaching the point of divergence of the Colorado. And 
although the banks were little if any higher than before, yet 
the feathery palms, of which I have spoken, were interspersed 
with other varieties of trees, some of which were of large 



HORNING ON THE RIYSB. 99 

flize, and draped all over with vines, that hung in rich 
festoons over the water. Birds of varied plumage glanced 
in and out of the forest, and cranes and other water-fowl 
paced soberly along the sand bars, or flew lazily up the 
stream as we approached. Occasionally a pair of green 
macaws, — the macaw is never seen except in couples, — 
fluttered slowly over our heads, almost deafening us with 
their discordant notes. The air was cool and fresh, remind- 
ing me of a morning in June at home, and I experienced a 
degree of exhilaration in performing my morning ablutions 
^which completely put to flight all my previously conceived 
notions of tropical lassitude. Mists lurked here and there 
in the bends of the river, and in shadowy nooks, but they 
gradually dispersed, and at eight o'clock, when the boat was 
moored under the shadow of a gigantic tree, the sun shone 
l)rilliantly upon a scene as luxuriant as the imagination can 
portray. Ben boiled his coflee at Jbhe sailors' fire, and we 
made our first breakfast on the river with a degree of satis- 
&ction which, even at this distance of time, it is pleasant to 
recalL 

At ten o'clock we were once more in motion, and shortly 
after came to the Colorado. At the point of junction, 
fourteen miles above the port, there is a broad reach, and 
the river at once assumes a more majestic character. As I 
have already said, the Colorado carries off fully two-thirds 
of the water of the river, so that no adequate idea of its size 
and beauty can be formed until the traveller has reached the 
main body of the stream. Here the banks become higher ; 
the low islands disappear ; and the river is walled in by a 
dense forest To avoid the strength of the current, the boat 
was kept close along the shore, and the long vines, loaded 
with gay and fragrant flowers, trailed over the chopa as it 
passed beneath them. Brilliantly-colored birds sparkled in 
the cool, green coverts, and, for the first time, we saw the 
ugly iguanas looking curiously down upon us firom the pro- 



100 NICABAQUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

jecting limbs of the trees. They fully answered to Ben's 
description of very ugly snakes, which Nature, after form- 
ing the head and tail, had neglected, until it was too late, to 
roll into shape, giving them afterwards four legs, by way of 
compensation for her oversight. They abound in Central 
America, and are to be met with in almost every locality, 
but are particularly abundant on the San Juan, where they 
attain to great size. They are of a variety of colors, and 
the different species (of which there appear to be several,) 
are distinguished by other peculiarities. Hundreds of small 
size and bright-green color might be seen clinging to every 
little branch, or sunning themselves on every old trunk 
which projected into the stream. When disturbed, they 
would dash for the shore with great swiftness, literally walk- 
ing the water. We shot many in our passage, but recovered 
few, as they are very tenacious of life, and often cling to the 
trees after they are killed. They are esteemed delicious 
food, and are eagerly sought by the marineros. I could 
never bring myself to taste them, although the flesh, after 
being cooked, looked sufficiently delicate and inviting. I 
do not know how close an anatomical affinity they sustain 
to the alligator, but their jaws and teeth are much the same, 
in miniature, and like the alligator they take to the water if 
closely pressed, when there is no hole or tree in which to find 
refuge. Their general ugliness is unnecessarily heightened 
by a kind of crest or integument which runs along the back, 
from the root of the neck to the tail, and which is elevated 
when the animal is frightened or enraged. I never overcame 
my aversion to these reptiles, although I afterwards brought 
myself to tolerate a colony of them, which had taken up 
their quarters in the adobe walls of my court-yard in Leon. 

During the day we passed an island near the place of 
divergence of the Juanillo, upon which an adventurous Nica 
raguan from the interior had established a plantain-walk. 
His house was nothing more than a shed, and under it was 



BATIXE OF SERAPIQUJ. 101 

Strang a ooaple of hammocks, in which the master and his 
sponse swung slowly to and fro, complete impersonations of 
idleness and ease. A couple of naked children were rolling 
in the sand of the shore, upon which was drawn up a grace- 
ful canoe, the whole constituting a picture of primitive sim- 
plidtj, to be found nowhere except under the tropics. Our 
men shouted, and were answered by a couple of wolfish- 
looking dogs, while the children scampered for the hut in 
i^parent alarm, but neither father nor mother took the 
trouble to rise. Why should they? / 

That night we came to anchor a few miles below the mouth 
of the Serapiqui, and next morning passed the spot where the 
Nicaraguan boatmen had made their stand against the English, 
after the capture of San Juan. The position was well chosen, 
at the head of a long reach, where the river takes a sudden 
bend, and where the hills, for the first time, come down to the 
water. Here they had cleared off the trees, and with their 
trunks had constructed a hasty breastwork, fronting the river. 
This rude fortification was manned by about one hundred and 
twenty men, some armed with old fowling-pieces, but others 
having no weapons except their machetes. They had also 
one or two rusty pieces of artillery, which none of them 
knew how to use, and with these preparations they awaited 
the ascent of the English. The latter, made up of three 
hundred picked men, from the vessels-of-war "Alarm" and 
"Vixen," in launches carrying guns at their bows, reached 
this place on the 12th of February, 1848. There could, of 
course, be but one result. The Nicaraguans were dislodged, 
with the loss of some fifteen or twenty killed, and about the 
same number wounded. With an equal force and equip- 
ments, the issue might have been different. The English 
conmiander reported his loss at two killed and fourteen 
wounded, but the Nicaraguans protest that it was four or 
five times that number, and the men were anxious to con- 
vince us of the feet by opening the grave where the English 



•> 



102 NICARAGUA — XARRATIVE. 

had buried their dead. We did not, however, take interest 
enough in the matter to stop, and were consequently obliged 
to keep our doubts, if we entertained any, to ourselves. 
Certain it is, that the British commander did not include in 
his statement the loss of Mr. Walker, "British Consul and 
General Agent on the Mosquito shore," who, with a boon 
companion, was reported "accidentally drowned." Walker 
was the most effective agent in getting up the attack on San 
Juan, and in organizing the British pretensions, being always 
at hand to manufacture "historical evidence," and his death 
almost consoled the Nicaraguans for their defeat. Captain 
Loch was, I believe, promoted for his gallantry, in what the 
Admiralty termed " the brilliant action of Serapiqui." The 
whole aflEair was a wanton act of aggression, and worthy only 
of pirates. No wonder the sailors hissed "death to the En- 
glish" through their closed teeth, as we swept past the scene 
of their humiliation. 

The Serapiqui is a large stream, taking it? rise at the base 
of the great volcano of Cartago, in Costa Bica. It is naviga- 
ble by bongos for the distance of thirty miles, and is one of 
the avenues through which the inhabited part of Costa Rica 
is reached from the coast. Flowing wholly to the eastward 
of the mountains, where the rains fall during the entire year, 
the volume of water in this river is very constant. It is 
l)robably the largest tributary of the San Juan. There is a 
small spot of ground partially cleared at its. mouth, where 
some femilies had established themselves previous to the 
English troubles. Upon the seizure of San Juan, they aban- 
doned their plantations and moved into the interior; and 
so rapid is the progress of vegetation and the course of decay, 
that their rude dwellings have entirely disappeared, and no 
trace of former occupation is left, except a few plantain trees 
struggling above the rank grass and undergrowi;h which have 
since sprung up. 

We passed the mouth of the Rio San Francisco during the 



HILLS OF SAS CARLOS. 



108 



iftemooD, and spent our third night above "Bemolino 
Gramle," where rock first appears in the bank of the river. 
This name is given to a whirlpool caused by the abrupt turn- 
ing of the stream, which is here somewhat confined by its 
unyielding banks. Up to this time we had accomplished 
wily about thirty milea of our voyage, and the easiest poi" 
brai, for the current above is stronger, and we were now 
approaching the rapids, where progress against the stream is 
iknr uid difficult. 




The next day we came to where the banks of the river 
were higher than we had yet seen, and where the scenery 
Itecame, if possible, more beautiful than before. I never 
wearied in gazing upon the dense masses of foliage that 
literally embowered the river, and which, in the slanting 
light, produced those magical effects of shadow on water, 



104 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

which the painter delights to represent. We this day caught 
occasional glimpses of the high hills at the junction of the 
San Carlos with the San Juan, where the latter breaks 
through the barrier which shuts in the great basin of Nicara- 
gua on the east. The afternoon was rainy, and heavy 
thunder-storms swept over as we approached the highlands. 
The marineros, nevertheless, seemed to relish the change, and 
pulled at the oars with renewed vigor. Just before sunset, 
however, the rains stopped, and as the atmosphere cleared, 
we found that we were at the mouth of the San Carlos, a 
broad and long stream, which, like the Serapiqui, takes its 
rise at the base of the volcano of Cartago, in Costa Rica. 
This stream, Pedro informed us, brings down immense 
quantities of volcanic sand, ashes, and decomposed scoriaceous 
materials, which it deposits at various points, forming what 
appear to be smooth sand-bars. The material, however, is 
so soft and yielding, that whoever ventures upon it, sinks at 
once to his middle. Near the mouth of this stream is one 
of the largest and most beautiful islands to be found in the 
river; and, as we approached, two manitees, feeding amongst 
the grass on its shores, plunged their unwieldy bulks heavily 
in the water. Above the island is the pass in the hills to 
which I have alluded, and which reminded me of the entrance 
of the highlands of the Hudson from the north. The moun- 
tains, upon the left, come boldly down to the water, and their 
tops were wrapped in clouds, lending to them the grandeur 
which in some degree always pertains to the vague and 
unknown. Here the river is much compressed, and the 
current deep and strong, requiring the utmost exertions of 
the men to carry the boat against it. With darkness came 
the rain again, and thunder-storm after thunder-storm rolled 
heavily along the heights of San Carlos. At times the moun- 
tain summits were literally wrapped in fire, and they seemed 
trembling to their very bases under the reverberating peals 
of thunder. None but those who have witnessed a tropical 



IfELOHORA INDIANS. 106 

Storm can fully appreciate Byron's magnificent description, 
or understand the terrible majesty of this elemental warfare. 
I slept but little that night, and shall never forget the excite- 
ment, novel and pleasurable, which I experienced under 
these new and singular circumstances. Towards morning I 
fell asleep, and was only awakened by Ben's call to break- 
ftst, — broiled ham, fried plantains, bread, and chocolate. 

From the mouth of the San Carlos to the first rapids, those 
of Machuca, the river seemed to increase in beauty. The 
Vwttiks were higher and firmer, and hills appeared, at inter- 
A^als, in the background. The country here is evidently 
CDne well adapted for cultivation, and must ultimately become 
}x)pulated. At present a few Melchora Indians roam through 
its forests, deriving their support from the river and its tri- 
\)utaries. They are generally very shy of the boats, and 
^retire upon their approach. One or two families, however, 
Iiave overcome their fears, and from their communication 
^th the boatmen, have picked up sufficient Spanish to enable 
them to carry on a broken conversation. Two of these 
Indians, an old man and a boy, came to us in their canoe, 
and offered some dried pieces of a large fish, which abounds 
in the rivers, called Savaloj in exchange for bread, plantains, 
or any other articles which the sailors might have to spare. 
Both were naked, and the old man was wrinkled and droop- 
ing, his gray hair matted on his head and shoulders, while 
the boy was lithe, bright, and sleek as a young panther. 
They looked curiously at our party, and frequently ex- 
claimed, blanco9j blancos, whites, whites ! I gave them some 
fish-hooks, in return for which they insisted on my receiving 
a portion of their dried fish. Pedro endeavored to make 
them understand that we were from " El Norte," — ^but they 
knew nothing of El Norte, and only shook their heads. 
They stand in great dread of firearms, as they have been 
wantonly shot at by passengers ascending or descending the 
river. And when they glanced under the chopa^ and caught 

14 



108 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

sight of our armament, they pushed off hastily into the 
stream; the boy standing in the bow, and striking with his 
paddle alternately on one side and the other, while the old 
man guided the boat. I did not succeed in procuring any 
words of the vocabulary of these Indians, but they are un- 
doubtedly of Carib stock. 

The rapids of Machuca, which derive their name from 
Capt. Diego Machuca, who explored this river in 1529, are 
the first and most formidable on the river. The bed of the 
stream, for nearly a mile, is full of rocks and stones, between 
which the water rushes with great force. The boats, in as- 
cending, are kept close in the right shore, and are poled up, 
slowly and with great difficulty. In descending they are 
often kept near the middle of the stream, down which they 
come, glancing between the rocks with the rapidity of an 
arrow. In descending, in June, 1850, my bongo, which 
obeyed the rudder very imperfectly, struck with immense 
force, and got jammed between tlio rocks, with its broadside 
to the current, where we remained for thirty hours, until 
literally dragged out by the united crews of six boats, after 
half a day of incessant labor. The l)oat was of great strength, 
or it must inevitably have gone to pieces. Such accidents 
are not of frequent occurrence, as the marineros are extremely 
expert in the management of their bongos. We were four 
hours in passing the Machuca. From thence to the Rapides 
del Mico and los Valos, the current is strong, but the channel 
is free. These rapids are short, and less difficult to over- 
come than those of Machuca. It is nevertheless a slow and 
laborious task to make their ascent; and until they are im- 
proved by art, they must always be great obstacles to the 
navigation of tlie river. At present the steamer **Orus," 
sent out by the " American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal 
Company," lies a wreck on the rocks of Machuca. 

On the morning of the 17th of June we made the Rapides 
del Castillo, commanded by the ancient fort of San Juan* 



EL CASTILLO VIEJO. 107 

now called the Castillo Viejo, " Old Castle," We had looked 
forward to our arrival here with great interest, not less on 
account of the historical associations connected with the 
place, than because, from hence to the lake, the passage i.s 
quick and comparatively easy. The morning was wut iuul 
gloomy, and altogether the most forbidding of any wo had 
yet encountered, hardly excepting tLat on which we ha 1 
made the coast, in the execrable little Francis. 1 neverthe- 
less put on my water-proof poncho, and to;)k my seat by the 
side of Pedro, on the pineta, 

A league below the fort we passed the island of Bartola, 
on which, beneath the dense verdure, we could discover 
traces of the ancient advance works of the fortress. It was 
here the English buried their men who were killed, or died 
of disease during the memorable but fruitless ex{>edition 
against Nicaragua, in 1780, under the command of Colonel 
Poison, and Captain, afterwards Lord, Nelson. This island 
was carried, by Nelson, who here distinguished himself for 
the first time. 

Passing the island, we came to a broad and l>eautiful reacli 
in the river, at the head of which, upon a conimanding emi- 
nence, rise the walls of the Ciistillo. The hill resembles that 
of Chapultepec, near Mexico ; is equally bold, an<l has been 
scarped to the steepness and regularity of the pyramids. The 
sides are now covered with bushes, and matted over with 
vines, but the walls still frown gloomily above the mass ol 
verdure. At the foot, and nearly on the level of the water, 
is what is called the ^^ Plat/or ma,'' where were the ancient 
water-batteries. It is now (Xjcnpied by a few thatched 
houses, — ^the quarters of a small garrison kept here by the 
Nicaraguan government, as an evidence of occupancy, and to 
assist l>oats in passing the rajnds of the Castle, which, al- 
though narrow, are vt»ry po\vi»rful, and better deserving the 
name of falls than rapids. Here the l)oats have to be 
"tracked up" by sheer force; and it is usual for all pas- 



108 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

sengers to land, and to lighten the boat in every wajr possi- 
ble. It is often necessary to take out a considerable part of 
the freight, or to wait for the arrival of another boat, so as 
to join forces in making the ascent. 

Arrived in the eddy below the " Platforma," M. and my- 
self bestrid the shoulders of our men, and were deposited 
on shore. We started at once for the castle, by a path 
which the garrison, under express orders from the govern- 
ment, kept clear of bushes. I glanced into one of the huts 
as I passed, but saw nothing beyond a very pretty yellow 
girl, swinging slowly to and fro in a hammock, with one 
naked leg hanging indolently over the side. She threw 
aside her long black curls, but, without changing her posi- 
tion, exclaimed, " Adios, California I" A party of outward- 
bound Californians had spent a number of days here, a few 
weeks previously, and had evidently been on familiar terms 
with the sefiora. 

The ascent to the castle was very steep and slippery from 
the rain, which had fallen uninterruptedly all the morning. 
A wide and deep fosse ran around the brow of the hill, with 
perpendicular escarpments, which we crossed on a narrow 
causeway, evidently of comparatively recent construction. 
If the work seemed imposing from the river, how much 
more impreasive was it when we looked down from its walls 
into two tiers of chambers sunk in the rock, and in which 
tall trees were growing, their topmost branches scarcely 
reaching to the level on which we stood. We descended by 
a bomb-proof stairway to the bottom, into what had been the 
magazine, and into the rocky chambers where the ancient 
garrison had been quartered, more than ever impressed with 
the daring and energy of those iron men wlio had subverted 
the empires of Montezuma and the Incas ; and who, within 
fifty years after the Discovery, had traversed every part 
of the continent, from California to La Plata. We went 
into the chapel ; there was the niche in which had stood the 



EL CASTILLO VIEJO. 109 

cross, and an effigy of *^ Nuestra Madre de Mercedes," '^ Our 
Mother of Mercy," and beneath it was the font for holding 
the holy water. By a passage, protected from shot, we as- 
cended to what is called the tower, — a solid mass of masonry, 
rising some sixty feet above the lower works, with a parapet 
embrasured for twelve guns, and now almost as solid and 
substantial as if built but yesterday. In this climate, where 
the great corrodent^ frost, never reaches, the durability of 
good masonry is almost incredible. The floor of the tower, 
with the exception of the centre, which had been broken, 
probably under the impression that treasure might be con- 
cealed there, was as smooth and firm as ever. Upon the 
western side of the work was the main entrance, the massive 
buttresses which supported the drawbridge, and a glacis, 
subsiding to a terrace, which had been the parade ground, 
garden, and cemetery of the garrison. All around the work 
on this side was an arched way, and immediately &cing the 
draw, and firmly imbedded in the masonry of the tower, a 
block of stone, bearing a long inscription, but too much de- 
fiiced to be perfectly made out. Its purport, however, is, 
that the castle was reconstructed, under royal orders, by the 
Governor Intendant of Nicaragua and Costa Bica, for the 
defence of the river, in 1747. How long previously works 
had existed there is now unknown, — ^probably from the mid- 
dle of the sixteenth century. Great but ineffective eflForts had 
evidently been made to dislodge or remove this stone, which 
bears too potential evidence against the pretensions of one 
" J. Bull," to be regarded with favor by any in his interest. 

On the north-western bastion of the fort and looking both 
up and down the river, stands a sentinel's box of stone, and 
close beside it, firmly fixed in the walls, the stump of the 
ancient flag-staflf. Within the box were yet to be seen the 
grooves which the muskets of the sentinels had worn in the 
stone. We thrust our heads through the windows, but saw 
nothing except Pedro and his men, some to their shoulders 



A PASSAGE IK HISTORY. Ill 

lah garrison consisted of two hundred and twenty-eight men, 
under the command of Juan de Ajssa. Nothwithstanding 
the overwhelmingly superior force of the English, the siege 
was a protracted one. The castle was finally brought to 
terms by the English obtaining possession of a hill command- 
ing it in the rear. By the terms of capitulation, ** in con- 
sideration of the« gallant defence of the fort," the garrison 
was permitted to march out with colors fljdng, drums beat- 
ing, with lighted matches, muskets and sidearms, and to be 
furnished with vessels and provisions to convey them to any 
port of Spain in America which might be agreed upon.^ This 
triumph was dearly purchased, and was productive of no 
good results. The entire expedition was a fiiilure, and is 
passed over very lightly in the English annals. Of the two 
hundred men comprising the crew of Nelson's vessel, but ten 
survived the expedition, and he himself narrowly escaped 
deatb. In Jamiary, 1781, the English abandoned the castle, 
and withdrew to Jamaica. Collingwood apologises for the 
&iliire of the expedition, ^nthe ground that *4t was formed 
without ft sufficient knowledge of the country, and presented 
difficoltieB not to "be surmounted by human skill and perse- 
verance. It was dangerous to proceed on the river, from the 
rapidity of the current, and the numerous Mis over rocks 
which intercepted the navigation ; the climate, too, was dead- 
ly, and no constitution could resist its eflfects."' 

Some conception of the difficulty of ascending the rapids 
of the Castillo may be formed from the fact, that it required 
the utmost exertion of our men, for nearly three hours, to 
get "La Grranadina," with no freight, past them. The boat 
once up, the crew made breakfast; and after glancing over 
the list of the Califomian party, who had not neglected to 



' Beatson's " Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain," vol v. p. 
97, and vol vi p. 230. 
* Memoirs, 5th ed., vol L p. 10. 



112 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

inscribe their names conspicuously on the walls of the fort^ 
we descended, thoroughly drenched with the rain. I had 

the toothache, and M the rheumatism, for a week, "by 

way of improvement" on our visit to the Castillo. The 
commandant of the garrison, having found out who were his 
visitors, was there to receive us; and from him we learned 
that we were expected in the interior, an^ that instructions 
had gone out from the government to all its officers to treat 
us with every possible respect, and to aflford every &cility 
to our progress. He had accordingly come to put himself 
"at our disposition." Being hungry, the colloquy took 
place, on the part of the representative of El Norte, in the 
intervals which could be spared from Ben's broiled ham and 
cofifee. For an appetite, and a corresponding contempt for 
etiquette, I recommend a three hours' visit to the Castillo 
Viejo, before breakfast. 

A few miles above the Bapides del Castillo, are the Bapides 
del Toro, which, however, are not strong, and are easily 
passed. Beyond these the river becomes of very nearly 
uniform width, and flows with a deep, regular current. This 
part of the stream is, in fact, a kind of estifttry, or extension 
of Lake Nicaragua. The banks are low, and the feathery 
palm again appears lining the shores. The whole country 
on both shores, for a long distance back, ia swampy, and in 
parts covered with water in the rainy season. Quite a num- 
ber of sluggish streams, nevertheless, flow through it, whose 
names indicate the character of their banks and the surround- 
ing country. There is the Eio Palo del Arco, "Arched with 
Trees;" the Rio Poco Sol, "Little Sun;" Rio Roblito, Mos- 
quito, etc. 

It was ou the morning of the sixth day afl«r our departure 
from San Juan, that the boat was pushed in to the low bank 
for breakfast, at a point but five miles below the Fort of San 
Carlos, situated at the head of the river, on the lake. Myri- 
ads of water-fowl lined the shores, and never so much as 



THE FORT OF SAN CABLOS. 113 

moved from the trees above tis while we breakfasted. 
Among them Ben discovered a majestic black eagle, which 
he shot. The bird fell near us, but as we approached him, 
he threw himself on his back, with open beak, fierce eye, and 
threatening talons, defiant to the last I would have given 
more than one hard dollar to. have undone the wanton act, 
and sent the proud bird unharmed once more, free to his 
native mountains. 

Although the novelty of our ascent, (ninety miles in six 
days, think of that, ye voyagers on the Hudson or our west- 
em rivers ! ) had in some degree compensated for its tedious- 
ness, and we had "put in" the time rather agreeably than 
otherwise, yet it was with unqualified satisfiiction that we 
learned that we had nearly passed the river. We were impa- 
tient to look upon the great lake, of which the world had 
heard so much but knew so little, and thought our progress, 
over the intervening five miles, unaccountably slow. At 
eleven o'clock, however, upon passing a large island, the 
river opened in a broad reach, and we saw before us the waters 
of the lake. A commanding eminence, cleared of trees, and 
surmounted by a few houses and a flag-staff, rose where the 
lake terminated and the river commenced. The men seemed 
hardly less pleased than ourselves ; but after pulling with 
great energy for a few minutes, suddenly stopped, and simul- 
taneously plunged overboard. We had become accustomed 
to all sorts of fantastic freaks, and contented ourselves 
with looking on without asking questions. After paddling 
about for a while, they clambered aboard, and then com- 
menced a grand hunt for the clothes which had been so 
summarily laid aside when we left San Juan. These were 
dragged to light from all conceivable out-of-the-way nooks, 
and directlv the whole crew was dressed in clean attire, 
which made us quite ashamed of our soiled garments. The 
economy, not to say the convenience, of going naked, for 
the purpose of keeping one's clothes clean, was never more 

15 



114 NIOABAGUA— NARRATIYS. 

manifest. Pedro insisted on having the flag unfurled firom 
the pinetOj and before we had got within a mile ^m the 
fort, produced his conch-shell, and blew an awful blast upon 
it A few figures appeared on the hill near the flag-stafl^ 
and directly the blue and white flag of Nicaragua, with an 
oval in the centre, containing three volcanoes and the rising 
sun, was run to its top. The roll of a drum, and the glanc-. 
ing of polished arms in the sun, showed us that we were 
recognized, and made us more than ever ashamed of our 
shabby exteriors. But what was to be done? Our trunks 
were wedged immovably beneath us, and if once dragged 
out, to our future eminent discomfort, where and how could 
we make our toilet? Besides we had no time for operations, 
the men were pulling with aU their force, and we were 

rapidly nearing the fort. M ^ with one foot wrapped in 

a napkin, (a nigua had unluckily escaped detection at San 
Juan,) proposed that we should throw our gutta percha 
ponchos over our garments, and decline going on shore, as the 
only feasible means of keeping up appearances. This was 
hardly agreed upon and done, before "La Granadina" dashed 
round the point, and up to the landing of San Carlos. The 
oommandante and his subordinates, in full uniform, the offi- 
cers of the Aduana or Custom-House, and a large deputation 
of the people, were all on the beach to receive us, which they 
did with a storm of vivas, and before we had well recovered 
from our surprise, a canoe was placed alongside, and the first 
Alcalde desired us to land. We were, of course, extremely 
obliged, but preferred to remain on board, as we should pro- 
ceed at once. Pedro spoiled this by saying that he must 
ship his masts here, and that his men must eat, and we knew 
this double performance was good for five or six hours. So, 
trusting to the impenetrable ponchos, we got into the canoe, 
and were guided to the shore. We did not feel particularly 
imposing while receiving the congratulations of our new 
friends, and at once accepted the proposal of the commandante 



THS GOMHANDANTE'S HOUSE. 116 

togo to hiB house, which was airily situated at the top of 
the hill, and within what had been part of the ancient de- 
&Qoes. Here about twenty-five men, composing the garrison, 
were drawn up, who presented arms as we passed. 

The oommandante's house, like all the rest, was composed 
of a substantial £rame-work of timber; the sides were made 
of canes netted together, the roof was thatched, and the floor 
the natural earth, excepting that of one room, which was 
payed with brick tiles. A number of pigeons were billing 
and cooing in a snug place under the eaves; an exceedingly 
quiet hen sat brooding beneath a table in one corner of the 
principal room, and through an opening in a cloth parti- 
tion, we caught sight of a pretty bed, with snow-white cur- 
tains, with a gaudy palm mattress spread in front, on which 
& full-sized, voluptuously-shaped young woman was playfully 
tossing a naked in&nt, some six months old, which crowed 
in very glee, while a young, clumsy little dog leaped around 
the child, and barked asthmatically from sheer sympathy. 
The oool wind rustled amidst the palm thatch, while the 
sunlight stole in checkered mazes between the woven canes. 
Altogether the scene, combining so much of simplicity and 
Dovelty, impressed me more than any I had ever witnessed. 
I foi;got, for the moment, that I was keeping my host stand- 
ing, and that the servant was holding the hammock, which 
invariably swings in every dwelling, open for my reception. 
I apologized, while the little garrison, bringing their arms to 
ahoulder with a clang, defiled before the door, the officer 
saluting us in a most formal manner. Our host was anxious 
to have us remove our ponchos, and seemed puzzled at our 
pertinacity in keeping them on. By-and-by, however, they 
became insupportably hot, and, as the best way of getting 
out of them and a scrape together, I fi*ankly told the whole 
story of our dilemma, and dragged ofiF the abominations. I 
fear " El Norte '" did not cut a very imposing figure, under the 
close scrutiny to which he was subjected. 



116 NIOABAGUA— -KABBATITE. 

The commandante insiflted oa our dining, and we had no 
indisposition to do him the iavor, — ^partioularlj as we had 
ocular demonstration, in the flitches of dried meat, the lus- 
cious-looking plantains, and other edibles, which hung from 
the rafters, (not less than in the person of our rotund host, 
whose uniform was strained to the utmost limit in the but- 
toning,) that his larder was well supplied, and the wants of 
the inner man properly cared for. Preparatory to taking 
a walk through the little village, which the commandante 
told us was "muy pobre," very poor, we all took a drop of 
brandy, to his toast complimentary to us, and " to the Presi- 
dent of the United States," "El Esclarecido General Taylor." 

I have said that the house of the commandante stood within 
the ancient outworks of the strong fort of San Carlos. 
The rocky summit of the point had been smoothed, and the 
slopes scarped, so as to render ascent difficult, if not imprac- 
ticable. A battery, which raked the river for a mile, once 
existed here ; but the few rusty guns which remain are more 
formidable in appearance than in fact. The fort itself, which 
formerly communicated with this battery by a covered way, 
stands some distance back, on the highest point of land in 
the vicinity. It was very strong, but is now in complete 
decay, and covered with large trees and bushes, so as to be 
entirely hidden from view. Within it we observed many 
very heavy pieces of ordnance, some of whjch were cast in 
Manilla, and trees were growing up through heaps of rusty 
cannon-balls. The position completely commands the en- 
trance to the lake, and from the nature of the surrounding 
country must have been nearly impregnable. 

The present town of San Carlos consists only of some 
twenty cane or board houses, occupied chiefly by the officers 
of the customs, and the soldiers with their families. Since 
the seizure of San Juan, the customs on goods entering the 
State, via that port, have been collected here. This circum- 
stance, together with the fact that all the boats passing 



BIO PBIO— GUATOSOS INDIANS. 117 

ihioogh ih& river stop here to unship or resume their masts, 
and renew their supplies, makes it a place of some importance. 
It is delightfiillj situated, and from the corridor of the com- 
mandant's house^ one of the finest views in the world is pre- 
sented to the traveller. The broad lake spreads like a mir- 
ror in front, its opposite shores marked by the regular vol- 
canic peaks of Orosi, Madeira, and Ometepec, capped with 
clondis, which rise dim and blue in the distance. Nearer 
lie the &irj-looking islands of La Boqueta, golden under 
the tropical sun, while in the foreground the emerald shores 
Btretch their wide arms on either side, a fit setting for so 
gorgeous a picture. Immediately opposite the town, flow- 
ing into the lake, within a few rods of where the San Juan 
flows out, is the Rio Frio, Cold River, whence the water for 
consumption in the village is brought. The sources of this 
Hver have never been explored, but they are supposed to be 
somewhere in the moimtains of Costa Rica. 

A tribe of Indians, chlled the Otuitosos, who hold no com- 
onmication with the whites, inhabit its banks, and resist all 
attempts at exploration. The late commandante of the fort, 
Don Trinidad Salazar, endeavored to ascend the stream a 
few months previously to our arrival ; but on the sixth day 
he was interrupted by a large body of Indians, and after a 
sharp contest, in which he was severely wounded, was com- 
pelled to retreat. He subsequently gave me a glowing aecoimt 
of the beauty of the stream, and the fertility and luxuriance 
of its shores. It has a depth of two fathoms of water, for a 
distance of forty miles above its mouth, and from his account, 
it could probably be navigated by steamers for twice that 
distance. The feet that a stream of this size, and the wide 
extent of country around it, are wholly unknown, would 
seem to show how much remains to be discovered in Central 
America, and how broad a field it holds out for enterprise and 
adventure. 
Between the mouth of the Rio Frio and the source of the 



118 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVB. 

San Juan, is a broad sand-bar, whicli seems to be a grand 
sunning-ground for alligators. Hundreds congregate here 
during the dry season, when the bar is exposed, and thej 
appear to have an exceedingly good time of it We could 
distinctly see their ugly, black carcasses from the com- 
mandante's corridor ; tand our host showed us a basket of 
their teeth, which he had picked up on the bar, and which 
were more pleasant to contemplate in that condition, than 
when adorning the jaws of the living reptile. 

A French officer, in the Nicaraguan service, (who was 
foolish enough to take part against the government in an 
attempted revolution shortly after, and got shot for his pains,) 
gave us some facts relative to alligators, of which we were 
previously ignorant. Those most satisfactory were that they 
occasionally have terrible fights among themselves, in which 
many get killed, and that the males destroy all the eggs of 
the females they can find, besides, Saturn-like, eating up all 
the young ones they can catch. We only regretted that they— 
were not more successful in their amiable attentions to 
own progeny. 




THE IGUANA. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BAN CARLOS — ^DINNER AT THE COMMANDANTE*S — INTRODUCTION TO "TORTIL- 
LAS T FRIJOLES" — A SIESTA — NEWS OF THE ATTElfPTED REVOLUTION — AN- 
TiaPATINQ EVENTS, AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COMMANDANTE AFTER WE 
LEFT — DEPARTURE UNDER A MILITARY SALVO— VIEW OF SAN CARLOS FROM 
THE LAKE — LAKE NAVIGATION— CARD PLAYINO— GORGEOUS SUNSET — ^A MID- 
NIGHT STORM — SAN MIGUELTTO, AND THE " BATH OF THE NAIDES" — ^PRIMI- 
TIVE SIMPUCITY — A DAY ON THE LAKE — "eL PEDERNAL" — A BATH WITH 
ALLIGATORS — AN " EMPACHO'* — A TRIAL AT MEDICINE, AND GREAT SUCCESS — 
SECOND NIGHT ON THE LAKE — ^THE VOLCANOES OF MOMOBACHO, OMETEPEC, AND 
MADEIRA — ^VOLCANIC SCENERY — THE COAST OF CHONTALES— THE CREW ON 
POLITIOS — " TIMBUCOS*' AND " CALANDRACAS," OR A GLANCE AT PARTY DI- 
VISIONS — ARRIVAL AT " LOS OORALES" — SOME ACCOUNT OF THEM — ^ALARMING 
NEWS — A COUNCIL OF WAR — ^FAITH IN THE UNITED STATES FLAG — THE ISLAND 
OF CUBI — ^MORE NEWS, AND A RETURN OF THE " EMPACHO" — DISTANT VIEW OF 
GRANADA — MAKING A TOILETTE — BEES — ARRIVAL AT THE RUINED FORT OF 
GRANADA — ^HOW THEY LAND THERE — SENSATION AMONGST THE SPECTATORS — 
ENTRANCE TO THE CITY — THE ABANDONED CONVENT OF SAN FRANCISCO — THE 
HOUSES OF THE INHABITANTS — FIRST DfPBESSIONS — SOLDIERS AND BARRI- 
CADES — THRONGED STREETS — BENOR DON FREDERICO DERBYSHIRE — "oUR 
host" — A WELCOME — OFFICIAL COURTESIES— OUR QUARTERS — TIRST NIGHT 
IN GRANADA. 

Two hours sufficed to exhaust the lions of San Carlos, in- 
cluding the arsenal, which was a cane hut, with a quantity of 
powder in kegs, piled in the middle and covered with hides ; 
two pieces of artillery, and a hundred stand of arms, over 
all of which a single sentinel kept watch, and the public 
warehouse or bodega, which was nothing more than a great 
shed, with convenient hammocks for its idle guardians, — we 
saw all these before two o'clock, at which hour dinner was 



120 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

served in the commandante's house. The table-cloth was 
unimpeachablj white, and the service altogether neat and 
ample. It was clearly the intention of our host to do his 
best ; even the pigeons seemed impressed with the idea that 
something extraordinary was going on, and the hen in the 
corner was nervous with excitement in view of the display. 
All the juvenile population of the place, if possible still more 
airily dressed than the urchins at San Juan, crowded round 
the doors, (they had followed us, at a distance, during our 
peregrinations), and regarded the whole affair with evident 
admiration. A number of their seniors, comprising the more 
respectable part of the inhabitants, arrayed for the occasion, 
in snow-white shirts and pantaloons, each with white buck- 
skin shoes, and a red sash, now made their appearance, and 
were collectively and individually introduced, to the renewal 
of our mortification on the score of dress. 

We sat down at the table, which was placed so as to give 
me the seat of honor in the hammock, while the comnuui- 
dante and his lieutenant, took, respectively, the head and foot 
They declined to eat, devoting themselves wholly to supply- 
ing their guests. This, we afterwards learned, was Nicaraguan 
etiquette, when special distinction was intended to be con- 
veyed. We were now, for the first time, introduced to the 
eternal tortilla and the omnipresent /n;bfes, to say nothing of 
the endless variety of dukes (sweetmeats), for which all 
Spanish America is famous. We commenced with bee^ cul- 
minated over chicken, and finished with oranges, bananas, 
cofiee,and cigars; with a pleasant stomachic conviction that 
good dinners were not incompatible with cane-huts, brood- 
ing hens in the corners, and amative pigeons under the 
eaves ! We were anxious to see the sefiorita, of whom we had 
had a glimpse on our arrival, and whose low, laughing voice 
we occasionally heard through the cloth partition ; but this 
was a delicate point, which we were cautious in touching 
upon, since M had found out that the commandante was a 



NEWS OF THE REVOLUTION. 121 

bachelor. Ah, commandante I I may have been mistaken, 
but I feel very sure it was a large black eye which I caught 
merry glances of through a small rent in that cloth partition ! 
A siesta was strongly commended to us after dinner, and 
hammocks were strung for the whole party. It was indis- 
pensable, our host told us, in this climate, and he wondered 
how it could be omitted in El Norte. Life, in his opinion, 
without a siesta after dinner, must soon become a wearisome 
affair, — and he quoted some verses from a native poet which 
were conclusive on the subject; so we yielded, and lay 
down; the people left, the doors were closed, and all was 
silent— even the pigeons were still. Two hours passed in a 
dreamy, pleasurable way, with just enough of consciousness 
to enjoy the mingled sensation of novelty and ease, when 
Ben came to apprise us that the boat was ready, and the 
crew on board. Our host pressed us to stay until the next 
morning, but the wind and weather were £iir ; and, although 
the temptation was strong, we adhered to our first inten- 
tions, and were deaf to argument. Before leaving, I in- 
quired about the revolution of which we had heard so much 
at San Juan, but got no very satisfactory information. Tliere 
had been an ** escaramiiza," a scrimmage, at Granada, and a 
lawless, reckless fellow, under proscription for murder, named 
Somoza, had collected together a party of adherents, and 
sacked the city of Rivas or Nicaragua. The commandante 
was certain that peace and order were by this time restored ; 
but if chey were not, our arrival would certainly produce 
quiet. The commandante hardly thought that the same 
robber chief, of whom he spoke so lightly, would pay him a 
visit within a fortnight, and carry him off a prisoner I But 
so it proved to be ; and although our commandante effected 
his escape, at imminent peril, through a wilderness, unarmed 
and alone, yet he was suspected of cowardice, imprisoned, and 
court-martialed. He came out safely, however, a shade less 
rotund perhaps, " a wiser if not a better man;" and before I 

16 



122 NICARAGUA-— NARRATIVE. 

left the country I had the Batis&ction of seeing him reinstatec 
at the fort, fat, happy, and hospitable as ever. The dark-eyec 
seiiorita was there too. 

At five o'clock we embarked, for the first time, on Lake 
Nicaragua. The people all came to bid us good-bye ; and 
one old man insisted upon a parting embrace. Like the pra 
phet of old, he said he was now ready to die, for he kne^i 
that his country was safe beneath the guardianship of the 
Republic of the North. We pushed off under a torrent ol 
vivas^ and a feu dejaie was fired by the little garrison, which 
Ben efficiently returned with his double-barrelled gun, while 
Pedro blew another nerve-cracking blast on his conch — that 
awful conch 1 The view of San Carlos, from the lake, was 
picturesque in the extreme, and the accompanying sketch ol 
it will be sufficiently curious twenty years hence, when it 
shall have become, as it inevitably will, a large and im- 
portant town. Already a steamer plies regularly between 
San Carlos and Granada ; and the alligators, disturbed in 
their slumbers on the sand-bar, by its plashing wheels and 
noisy engine, are meditating a grand migration into the coun- 
try of the Guatosos. 

The faintest of all zephyrs was dying away on the lake 
when we started, yet we had not gone half a mile before the 
oars were drawn aboard, and a huge triangular sail spread 
jfrom the newly-rigged mast. The breeze was hardly strong 
enough to fill it ; and the boat dawdled, rather than moved, 
through the water. We expostulated with Pedro; but it 
was useless ; the marineros never did row while there was 
the least apology for a wind abroad, and the " demonio" him- 
self couldn't make them. So Pedro lit his cigar, while the 
men produced a pack of cards, and commenced a game, 
novel enough to us, in which it was the privilege of the win- 
ner to pinch, beat, and otherwise maltreat the loser, who 
was obliged to submit without resistance, until the spectators 
pronounced **bastante," enough. One fellow, who was a 



SUNSET ON THE LAKE. 128 

little rebellious, was incontinently thrust overboard, to the 
great damage of a gaudy bandana handkerchief which he 
wore about his head, and to the manifest delectation of the 
crew, who jibed him unmercifully as a "ladron," and "pi- 
caro," " a rascal" and " a loafer." 

The sun went down that night directly behind the purple 
peak of Orosi. The body of the volcano appeared to be a 
nucleus, whence fan-like rays radiated up to the very zenith, 
while the yellow light streamed past the mountain upon the 
lake, in a dazzling flood, in which the islands of Solentenami 
and La Boqueta seemed to float as in liquid gold. As the 
sun sank lower, the hues of the heavens changed to crimson^ 
bringing out the palm-trees on the islands in high relief 
against the sky ; then to purple, and finally to the cool gray 
of evening, through which the stars shone down with a 
strange and almost unnatural lustre. The transition was 
rapid, for here the lingering twilight of northern latitudes is 
unknown. Our boatmen were not insensible to the almost 
unearthly beauty of the scene ; and when it all was passed, 
they began the evening chaunt, 

" Ave Maria puriadma," etc. 

the echoes of which were repeated from the shores, until 
they died away in murmurs in the distance. 

The night was wonderfully still. We could distinctly hear 
the tinkling of guitars at the fort, at least three miles distant, 
interrupted by bursts of gay laughter, until a late hour. Be- 
fore I slunk under the cliopa^ however, clouds began to 
gather in the north-cast, lighted up momentarily by flashes 
of lightning, while fitful gusts of wind, veering in every 
quarter, betokened the approach of a thunder-storm. I 
nevertheless went to sleep while listening to the distant 
mutterings of thunder and the dismal bowlings of the " mono 
Colorado," or howling monkey. A little past midnight, 



124 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

however, we were all roused in a summary manner by a 
dash of water full in our faces, followed the next instant by 
the lurching of the boat, which tumbled passengers, arms, 
books, and whatever was movable, all in a heap together. I 
disengaged myself in a moment, and scrambled out upon the 
pineta, where Pedro, clinging to the tiller, was calling fran- 
tically to the men, who in a confused, shouting mass were 
clustered around the swaying mast, vainly endeavoring to take 
in the sail. We were before the wind, which was blowing a 
hurricane, and going with immense velocity, the hissing wa 
ters rising under our stern, almost to the level of the pineta. 
Broad sheets of blinding lightning fell around us, followed 
by deafening peals of thunder, drowning for a moment the 
roar of the tempest. I had hardly time to comprehend the 
peril of our situation, with the sail entangled in the ropes, 
and swaying from side to side, when a flash of lightning 
revealed to me Ben's stalwart form amongst the frightened 
marineros. I saw his short Eoman sword glance for an 
instant above their heads, — ^lie had cut the ropes. The sail 
fell, but was at once dragged aboard, while the relieved boat 
scudded steadily before the storm, which soon exhausted 
itself leaving us drenched and uncomfortable, tossing roughly 
amongst the waves. The men took to the oars without an 
order, and in evident relief pulled back towards the course 
from which we had been driven. All th^t night, thunder- 
storms, like invading columns, swept over the lake around 
us, but we fell in the course of none of them. They all 
seemed to linger against the high volcanoes on the opposite 
shores of the lake, as if they would level in their wrath the 
daring rocks which opposed their progress. 

The men slept no more that night, but pulled steadily and 
silently at the oars. Towards morning I crept again under 
the chxypa^ and slumbered until roused by the bellowing of 
cattle, and by the sun shining brilUantly in my face. It was 
after nine o'clock ; we had passed the islands of La Boqueta, 



BAHITA DE SAN HIGUBL. 126 

which lay within view, fresh and inviting, exposing under 

an archway of trees one or two picturesque huts, with canoes 

drawn up in front of them. We were within a snug 

little bay, in front of a broad sandy beach, on which the men 

were kindling fires preparatory to breakfast, while a herd of 

sleek-looking cattle wandered along the shore, here stooping 

to drink, and there engaging in mimic fights. Beneath the 

trees wound back a broad, well-beaten pathway, and beyond 

we oould see the golden tops of palm-trees, the thatched 

roo& of houses, and hear the crowing of cocks, and the merry 

sound of infimt voices. We were in the " Bahita de San 

tf iguel^" the little bay of San Miguel, distant about twenty 

milee from San Carlos, on the northern shore of the lake. 

The storm of the preceding night seemed almost like a 

dream ; could it be possible that a few hours had wrought 

such a change? But the tattered sails, and the saturated 

blankets beneath the chopa^ bore testimony to the reality of 

the storm. In fact, Pedro was yet full of wrath at what he 

called the stupidity of his men — ^they were "tontos" all, 

fools and brutes. I had been as indignant as himself, but 

^was too glad to get out of the scrape safely, to nurse my 

^wrath ; so I poured out for Pedro a gill of brandy in his 

(calabash, which he drank to our good health, and smacking 

liis lips, straightway recovered his temper. 

IHrectly, a little troop of girls, with purple skirts and 

wliite guipils, their long black hair dangling loosely to their 

waists, and balancing red water-jars on their heads, came 

laughing down the pathway for water. They appeared to 

be old friends of our crew, who hailed them gayly with " k 

Dios, mi alma!" "buena maflana, mi corazon I" adieu my 

•oul 1** " good morning, my heart !" to which they replied 

with "comoestan, misnegritos ?" " how are you, my darkeys ?" 

and other railleries, very much, to our thinking, of the Bowery 

order. They passed along the shore a little distance, to a 

clump of bushes, and the next instant we saw them plashing 



126 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

like mermaids in the water; while some of our crew, who 
were throwing a net "for a fry," as Pedro said, tried to 
frighten them by shouting " lagartos, lagartos I" ^^ alligatars, 
alligators I" and affecting to make great efforts to escape to 
the shore. But the girls were not to be " sold" so easily, 
and only laughed the louder, and splashed water in the fiu^es 
of the jesters as they ran by. Upon discovering us, instead, 
as the reader might suppose, of making for the shore in oon- 
fusion, they paddled boldly up to the boat, their long hair 
trailing like a veil on the surface of the water. They looked 
laughingly up in our faces for a moment, exclaiming, " Call- 
fornia," then ducked under, and were away. It seemed to 
us, while they stood drying their wet locks on the beach^ 
that no sculptor could desire fairer models for his studio; 
nor the painter a more effective group for "the Bath of the 
Naides." We were there in an auspicious period; those 
days of primitive simplicity are passing away, if, indeed, they 
are not already past. 

After drying ourselves in the sun, we took our guns and 
went on shore. We followed the inviting path to which I 
have referred, for a short distance, when we reached a brisk 
little brook which came murmuring among the stones with 
a familiar New England accent, here rippling over the bright 
sand, and there widening into broad, transparent pools. In 
one of them a whole bevy of little naked children were tum- 
bling about, who took to their heels, like young ducks, upon 
our approach. Here we met Ben, coming down from the 
rancherias with two foaming calabashes of fresh milk, one of 
which wate drained on the spot, the other reserved for our 
coffee. I shot a few strange water-birds and a parrot amongst 
the bushes, and strayed back to the shore just in time for 
broiled fish, crisp and hot from the fire. 

Every step into this strange country had been full of nov- 
elty; and although our interest never flagged for an instant, 
yet we thought San Miguelito more interesting than any place 



KAYIGATIOK OK THE LAJUB. 127 

we had encountered, and at first entertained some vague 
notions of stopping there for the day. But when the fresh- 
ness of the morning had passed, which it did before we had 
finished breakfast, when the cattle had all gone off in the 
woods, and no more amphibious girls came down for 
water, we were not only ready but anxious to depart, which 
we did a little before noon. I shall never forget our break- 
fast at San Miguelito. 

The day was still and sultry : Nature seemed wearied of the 
elemental war of the preceding night, and anxious for repose ; 
the branches on the palm trees on the shore appeared to 
droop languidly ; while the men, under plea of previous extra 
labor, paddled along at what Ben piously denominated " a 
poor, dying rate." The north-east trades sweep entirely 
across the continent in Nicaragua, and this wind, for boats 
bound from San Carlos to Granada, is therefore exceedingly 
favorable. They keep close under the northern shore, 
following its bendings, until they get nearly opposite 
Granada, and then stretch boldly across the lake. This is 
done because, with their imperfect sailing gear, venturing 
into the mid-lake would almost infallibly end in being blown 
over to the leeward shore, whence they could only be relieved 
by long and toilsome rowing against a cross sea — ^for on that 
shore the waves roll with almost the strength and majesty of 
those of the ocean. The later-built boats have something of 
a keel, and are schooner-rigged. These make the passage 
from the fort more directly. But our sails were, I suppose, 
a perpetuation of those used by the Indians before the Dis- 
covery, and quite indescribable. Pedro said they were " no 
good," except before the wind, and there they would make 
the boat fly, to use his own words, " like devil." The vision 
of the night recurred to me, and I yielded a full assent to 
the remark. 

We spent nearly the whole day in vain trials to catch the 
ghosts of breezes, which came drowsily over the water, in our 



128 NICARAGUA-— NARRATIVE. 

sails. I presume they were raised a score of timeB daring 
the afternoon, but they only fluttered for a moment, and then 
dropped around the masts. This went on until the men &lt 
hungry, and then we put in again at ^' £1 Fedemal^" the 
landing-place for the cattle estate of Don Fredeiioo Derby* 
shire, a merchant residing in Granada, the owner of ^* La 
Granadina," and to whom we bore letters of introduction 
from his correspondents in the United States. The place 
is not inappropriately named "The Flint" It is the 
very reverse of San Miguel; there is no smooth sandy 
beach, but instead, the whole shore is piled with rugged 
black basaltic or trachytic rocks, blistered with heat, among 
which grow some stunted trees. A narrow path winds 
amongst the rocks to a little cove, in which our boat was 
run. A man was despatched to the estate, which is situ- 
ated a mile or two inland, to know of the mayor-domo if any 
of the products of the farm were to be sent to the city. 
Meanwhile the men went deliberately through the usual 
tedious process of dinner-making, and we got over the side 
for a bath. Notwithstanding the rocky shore, the bottom is 
a soft black mud, in which we sank to the knees. This was 
neither expected nor pleasant, and when I discovered an alli- 
gator slowly rise to the surface not two rods distant, I clamb* 
ered aboard with more expedition than grace, and gave the 
monster the contents of my gun, in return for the courtesy 
of his appearance. 

It was nearly sunset, dinner had been finished, and the ket- 
tles had been towed on board again, when we heard voices, 
and suddenly turning round the point of rocks there came 
three horsemen, each carrying, in net- work sacks, four large 
square cheeses, of the weight of two arrobas (fifty pounds) 
each. The horses were ridden up to the side of the boat, 
and the cheeses carefully placed in the centre. This finished, 
a breeze having meantime sprung up, we hoisted sail, and 
glided away from " El Pedernal," not at all dissatisfied to 



AN "BMPACHO." 129 

leave its rocks and alligatoTs to their own pleasant com- 
pany. 

One of my companions, who had been growing silent and 
pale for several hours, now gave signs of an approaching 
crisis of some sort Pedro pronounced him laboring under 
an " empacho," and recommended brandy — ^that was his uni- 
versal specific for everything, from a sprained ankle to the 
toothache. But the patient protested against the medicine, 
as an abomination which made him only the worse to think 
o£ I thought it a capital opportunity to bring out the 
medicine-chest, which had been packed with an extensive 
regard to all sorts of contingencies at " Rushton and Clark's," 
and Ben began a grand rummage for it, to the utter distrac- 
tion of everything in the boat. Meantime, as became a 
learned practitioner, I propounded the question usually 
asked by anxious mammas of complaining children, '* what 
have you eaten ?" It turned out that, besides half a calabash 
of fresh milk, fried fish, three eggs, a slice of ham, and 
bread and coffee ad libitum^ the patient had " put in" the 
afternoon with raw plantains, and " dufce" — sugar I I com- 
prehended that "empacho" meant something like surfeit, 
and to disguise the dose, mixed a little tartar emetic with 
magnesia, which wrought a wonderful cure — much to my 
elevation in the eyes of the crew, who set me down at once 
as a great medico, I had immediate applications on behalf 
of ailing wives, scalded babies, and feverish boys, for all of 
which I prescribed, after deliberate consultation of the 
** Pocket Physician." While this was going on night fell, 
and I lost the sunset, — a circumstance for which, as he is 
thereby spared the description, the reader is no doubt prop- 
erly thankful. 

As the evening progressed, the breeze continued to fi-eshen, 
and about midnight, Pedro, calculating that we were sufGi- 
oiently to the windward, laid the course of the boat direct 
for Ghranada. I went to bed early, and owing to the disturb- 

17 



180 NICARAGUA— NABRATIVB. 

anoe of the previous night, slept soundly. When I woke, 
we were in mid lake, and might have been in mid sea^ for 
all the difference discoverable in the appearance of the waves 
and water. The wind was strong, cool, and damp, and the 
men had their handkerchiefs bound round their heads, and 
their blankets wrapped over their shoulders. My ailing 
companion looked sentimental, and professed not to have 
wholly recovered from the " empacho," but as I felt qualmish 
myseli^ I pronounced it sea-sickness, which, as every travel- 
ler knows, never entitles the sufferer to sympathy. 

We were at least thirty miles from land, yet the shores 
appeared wonderfully distinct and near. We now, for the 
first time, felt the majesty of the giant volcanoes of Ometepec 
and Madeira, which had hitherto seemed so dim and distant 
There they rose clear and bold against the sky, regular as 
works of art, the moving clouds casting their sides in shadow, 
and clasping their summits as they passed, then sweeping 
away to the distant islands of the great Pacific Between us 
and the shore was the high, uninhabited island of Zapatero, 
its outline changing every moment with our position, while 
directly in front, distinguished by the towering edges of its 
vast and ragged crater, rose the extinct volcano of Momo- 
bacho, at the foot of which stands the ancient city of Granada. 
High above the forests of the shore, are some conical hills, of 
light green, bordering on yellow, which seemed to be cleared, 
and which puzzled us exceedingly. We became familiar 
with them afterwards, and I presume they are common in 
all volcanic regions. They are the cones of scorisB, sand, 
and ashes, which are heaped up during eruptions. On these, 
trees rarely take root, but in their place a species of long, 
coarse grass weaves a net-work of verdure over their smooth 
sides. This grass is of a lively green during the rainy season, 
but becomes yellow in the dry, when the hills are burned 
over, after which they change to deep sable. Thus forever 
varying, they constitute remarkable and characteristic fea> 



"timbucos" and " calandracas." 181 

tares in a Nicaraguan landscape. Upon the northern shore 
of the lake we saw only the broken volcanic mountains of 
Chontales, patched with trees, here black with lava, and there 
red and white with scoriaa and sand. It should be observed 
that it is only that part of Chontales bordering the upper 
portion of the lake, which presents this burned and broken 
aspect Elsewhere the shores are comparatively low and 
undulating, with extensive savannas, which furnish abun- 
dant pasturage. The whole district is well adapted for 
grazing purposes. 

While we were occupied with the novel and beautiful 
scenery of the lake, our men, collected around the foot of the 
mast, were engaged in a low but earnest discussion, which 
we soon discovered related to politics, and especially to the 
attempted revolution of which we had heard so much. They 
made frequent use of the terms " Timbucos" and " Calan- 
dracas," which were about as significant to us as " Coons" 
and " Locofocos" probably were to strangers on our own 
shores, during certain presidential elections. We had ab- 
stained from asKng questions about politics, not from want 
of interest, but from motives of policy ; but took occasion to 
hear all that might be said upon the subject. We had thus 
contrived to get some imperfect notions of the partisan divi- 
sions of the country ; the bases of which, though very trivial 
to the impartial traveller, were probably quite as important in 
feet as those which we had seen sustained with so much vehe- 
mence and virulence at home. It was easy to discover that our 
crew were unanimously " Timbucos," or of the government 
party, while the " Calandracas" were the disaffected portion 
of the people. They, however, appeared to have but a sec- 
tional importance, and were far from numerous, except in the 
southern departments of the Republic. The robber-chief, 
Somoza, had turned this partisan feeling to some account by 
professing to be its champion, and having collected a few 
hundred reckless and ignorant men around him, made a enid- 



182 NICARAGUA — NARRAilYS. 

den and successful attack ou Bivas, or Nicaragua, whicb 
defended by a small garrison of only forty soldiers. In the 
attack lie burned a number of bouses, and committed some 
cruel murders, besides pillaging and robbing on every hand. 
According to the accounts which had reached us, however, 
the entire city had been burned, and the inhabitants slaugh- 
tered indiscriminately and without mercy. These stories, as 
well as those relating to the number of his forces, proved, in 
the end, to be gross exaggerations, — as the reader will dis- 
cover in due course. 

It appeared, from what was said, that there had been a 
vague rumor at San Carlos, to the effect that Somoza, at the 
head of three thousand men, had set out some days pre- 
viously for an attack on the city of (Granada; and the proba- 
bilities of its truth, and the course to be pursued in the event 
he should have reached there, were now, as we approached the 
city, subjects of increasing interest with our men. The cir- 
cumstance that we had, on the day preceding, seen a number 
of boats, making what appeared to be a forced trip in the 
direction of San Carlos, but too far distant to be hailed, was 
dwelt upon as exceedingly significant. In short, it was evi- 
dent enough that the feeling of excited suspense amongst the 
men was every moment increasing. Pedro was silent, and 
answered our questions evasively, but listened earnestly to 
all that was said. He seemed to be oppressed by a sense of 
responsibility of some kind ; but whether on account of him- 
self, his boat, or his distinguished passengers, we could not 
make out. 

By the veering of the wind, or the " falling oflF" of our 
keel-less boat, instead of making the northern islands of the 
group called the " Corales," rising, hundreds in number, at 
the foot of the volcano of Momobacho, we found ourselves, at 
about two o'clock in the afternoon, at the almost extreme 
southern part of the archipelago. The approach to these 
islands was exceedingly beautiful; but when we were 



LOS CORALES — ^NSWS. 188 

amongst them, out of the rough waves into the smooth water, 
they were really enchanting. They are of volcanic origin, 
elevated in the form of cones, to the height of from twenty 
to one hundred feet. The sides are steep, and composed of 
immense volcanic rocks, black and blistered by fire; but 
their summits are covered with verdure, and long vines hang 
trailing over the stones, blushing with strange flowers, almost 
to the edge of the water. Some of them, upon which there 
is a sufficient accumulation of soil, are inhabited by Indians; 
and their thatched huts, shaded by tall palms, with a dense 
background of plantains, are the most picturesque objects 
that can be imagined. 

Within these islands the sail was dropped, and the oars 
resumed. Everybody was now anxious to hear the news, but 
the huts on the islands seemed to be deserted ; at least no 
one appeared, although the men shouted to the inmates at 
top of their voices. Very soon a canoe, containing a boy 
and a woman^ shot across our course, from between two little 
islands, just in advance. For a moment they showed evi- 
dences of alarm, and a disposition to retreat ; but recognising 
Pedro, they came alongside, under a shower of confused and 
eager questions, which completely confounded us, and pre- 
vented anything like an understanding of what was said. 
We conjectured that the news was of an exciting kind, from 
the earnest faces and violent gestures of the crew. By-and- 
by the canoe pushed of^ but it was full a quarter of an hour 
before the men took up the oars, during which time there 
was a warm discussion as to whether the boat should proceed 
at once to Granada, or remain concealed amongst the islands 
until the issue of affairs at the city could be ascertained. The 
opinion, however, seemed to be pretty decided, that we should 
go ahead, at whatever hazard. This decision was based, as 
we afterwards discovered, on the faith reposed in " la ban- 
dera del Norte America," the flag of the United States; 
which they all believed neither man nor devil dared disre- 



184 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATXYE. 

gard. It appeared that the woman and boy of the canoe had 
told an alarming story of the approach of Somoza, the flight 
of the inhabitants, and the probable capture of the city. 
But Pedro, more cautious than the resty-was of the opinion 
that their tale had but little better foundation than their 
fears ; and expressed great faith in the ability of the little 
garrison of ** veteranos," stationed in the city, to prevent its 
being carried by Somoza. His faith was somewhat shaken, 
however, on learning, a few minutes thereafter, from an 
Indian, lurking on one of the islands, that there had been a 
great firing in the city the previous night and this morning; 
and that all the boats had left the landing and made for the 
opposite shore of the lake. 

There is pleasure in all kinds of excitement^ which is 
rather enhanced than diminished by the presence of danger. 
And so far from being alarmed by these accounts, I was only 
the more anxious to get to Granada. I had been told that 
Somoza, notwithstanding his crimes, cruelty, and contempt fio* 
the laws, had much of the cavalier in his composition ; gay, 
gallant, generous, and withal the finest looking and moel 
dashing fellow in all Nicaragua. No man rode such fine 
horses, or could rival him in wielding the lance. Indeed, the 
commandante at San Carlos had intimated that he owed it 
to the place which he held in the good graces of the se&ori- 
tas of the coimtry, that he had so long baffled justice and 
defied pursuit. Altogether I had pictured him something 
like the gentlemanly cut-throat of the Apennines and Sierra 
Morina, or the amiable bandits of the Peninsula, and almost 
considered myself fortunate in the prospect of an adventure, 
at my very first step in the country. 

Two hours of steady rowing amongst the fairy " Corales" 
brought us to the little island of Cubi, when a broad bay, 
with a white beach, and an old castle on the shore, opened 
before us ; while beyond a belt of woods, on higher ground, 
rose the towers of Granada. We could distinguish little of 



THE ISLAND OF CUBL 186 

the town exoept the red, tiled roofi of the houses ; and 
though j&om this distance it was &x from imposing, yet we 
liad so long looked forward to our arrival here, that had 
dome been piled on dome, and palace risen above palace, in 
long perspective, we could not have experienced greater 
aatis&ction than we now did in gazing, for the first time, 
upon this ancient city. At the island, we found several huts, 
jmd a number of boats drawn into little nooks between the 
Tocks, while beneath the trees were clusters of women and 
children, and here and there groups of men, absorbed in 
playing some noisy game of cards. With a vivid recollec- 
tion of the indifferent figure we had cut at the fort, we had 
^irranged with Pedro to stop here, in order to replace our 
stained and tattered garments ; an operation which we soon 
discovered must be performed in face of the assembled popu- 
lation of Cubi, unless we preferred to encounter the fleas 
which we fietncied must infest the dirty, dog-stocked huts on 
the shore. We chose the former alternative ; but had hardly 
<x>mmenced the dissuption of trunks and boxes, and the 
overhauling of carpet bags, before we heard a cannon in the 
direction of the city, followed very soon by what appeared to 
be a rolling discharge of musketry; and looking in that 
direction, we could see a volxmie of smoke rising from the 
centre of the town. Our invalid had a violent recurrence of 
his " empacho," refused tartar emetic, anticipated a fever, 
and was altogether too ill to leave the island. So he was led 
up to one of the huts, and deposited in a hammock. Mean- 
time the fiisilade ended with one or two more discharges of 
cannon, while a white cloud rose slowly over the city. Our 
first impression was that Somoza had arrived, and that a 
fight was already in progress. The people of the island 
were also somewhat startled, and for a time watched the town 
with evident anxiety ; but in the end quietly resumed their 
amusements. Pedro also seemed to be relieved ; and after 
listening for a while, finally exclaimed that all was right: 



135 



NlCAHAOfA 



Lbs day, he said, was ajiesta, and what we had supposed 
a disctuirge of iireanne, was only the explosion of "Uniihua" 
or rockets, — " in [wiiit of fuel," fireworks. I cannot eaj that 
I was particularly gratified with the information, nfWr having 
prepared mysdf for a siege at least, if not un ossuult. 

Myriadg of bees, atti-urted by the sweets in the boat, 
swarmod around us while making our toilet. Their first 
onset fairly drove ua out on the roeks, but Pedro quieted us 
vritli the aasuran(» that they were siinglcss, when wc returned 
and completed our aiTangementa. It was late in the after- 
noon, ihd wind blowing fair, when we again put up sail, and 
steered for the liinding of Granada. As we approached, we 
discovered hundreds of people on the shore and in the water, 
eome ia groups, and others in gay trappings dashing about 
on horseback, — a picture of activity and life. On the gray 
walls of the old ca-stle wo also discerned soldiers, their mus- 
kets glancing in the sun ; and, anchored a little dislancc from 
the shore, was an odd-lookiiig craft, in two pieces, resembling 
some aivkward canal-boat, which we allerwardi! discovered 
IukI been built to receive the engine and boiler which we 
bad seen in San Juan. In this rude, unwieldy aflkir, with 
infinite trouble, and after three weeks of toil, a party of some 
ecventy-five outward-bound Califomians had ascended the 
river and passed the lake to this place, — tha pioneers on this 
line of transit. 

In ail hour aAer leaving Cubi, we cast anchor under the 
walls of the old castle. Our flag attracted immediate atten- 
tion, and the people crowdeil upon the walls of the Ibrt to 
lo<ik ill ua. SoBH! callifl lo Pedro, with a multitude of gea- 
ticulationsjbul the no^ of the surf was so great that we 
could not make out what was said. The question which 
prestntcd iteelf most strongly to us was, how are we going 
ki land ? for a icurf like liiat of the oci^aii broke on the shore. 
We had a practicid answer, however, very shortly. The 
cable waa let out, so as to bring us as iar in shore as «ras 



J 



LANDING AT GRANADA. 187 

safe, and then three or four sailors leaped overboard, their 
heads and shoulders just appearing above the water, and in- 
vited us to get on I Get on what — ^^ere — ^how? Pedro 
explained that we were to put our feet on the shoulders, and 
seat ourselves on the head of one, and hold on with our 
hands to the hair of another just in advance. After a num- 
ber of awkward attempts, which excited great merriment, 
and at the expense of wetted feet, we finally got into position, 
and were duly deposited on shore, amidst a swarm of boys 
and women. Some of the former pressed forward, exclaim, 
ing "California," or "goode by," and then disappeared 
laughing amongst their companions. It was very evident 
that our countrymen had created a great sensation in their 
progress. Probably no equal number of strangers had 
passed through the country for a century. 

Pedro slipped off his clothes, and holding them above his 
head, also came on shore, in ecstatic spirits to find the town 
standing and all safe. He dressed with great expedition, 
and with much dignity put himself in advance, to escort us 
to the town. Not at all sorry to get out of the crowd of 
gazers, we followed along a broad, well-beaten road, with 
elevated foot-paths on each side, in the direction of the city. 
The ascent seemed to be by terraces ; the feces of which were 
paved with stone, and guarded by masonry, to protect them 
from the wasting action of the rains. Palms, plantains, 
orange and other tropical trees lined the road on either hand, 
shut in by a hedge composed of a species of cactus, bearing 
brilliant red flowers. We met troops of laughing girls, of 
every shade of complexion, from pure white to ebon black, 
fencifully attired, with water-jars oA their heads, on their 
way to the lake. They were as straight as arrows, and 
seemed to have an infinite fund of animal spirits. Most of 
them passed us with a side glance, half of curiosity and half 
of mischief while others more bold, turning full round, ex- 

18 



188 KIOARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

(daimed gayly, " Adios, caballerosi" to which we responded, 
'^Adios, mi alma I" much to their apparent entertainment. 

It was full a third of a mile to a steep terrace, ascending 
which we found ourselves amongst the neat cane huts com- 
posing the suburbs of the city, and in which reside the poorer 
portion of the popiQation. Most of these, like those at San 
Carlos and San Juan, were built of canes and thatched with 
palm leaves or grass, while others were plastered with mud, 
and whitewashed. A clump of fruit-trees overshadowed 
each, and within the doors we could discover women spin- 
ning cotton with a little foot- wheel, or engaged in grinding 
com for tortillas. On almost every house were one or two 
parrots screaming at each other, or at some awkward looking 
macaw, which waddled clumsily along the crown of the roo£ 
Around all, dogs, chickens, and children mingled in perfect 
equality. 

Beyond these huts commenced the city proper. The build- 
ings were of adobes, on cut stone foundations, and roofed with 
tiles. The windows were all balconied, and protected on the 
outside by ornamental iron gratings, and within by painted 
shutters. They were, with scarcely an exception, of one high 
story. The principal entrances were by arched and often 
elaborately ornamented gateways, within which swung mas- 
sive doors, themselves containing smaller ones, all opening 
into the courtyards. Besides these, there were, in some 
instances, other entrances, opening directly into the grand 
sala of the house. The eaves of all the houses project 
several feet beyond the walls, serving the double purpose of 
protecting the latter from the rains, and sheltering the foot- 
passenger from the sun*and the elements. The side or foot- 
walks were all raised one or two feet above the street, and 
flagged, but barely wide enough to admit persons meeting 
each other to pass. Towards the centre of the town some of 
the streets are paved, like those of our own cities, with this 



ENTBANCE TO 6BANADA. 189 

difference, that instead of a convex, they present a concave 
surface, so that the gutter is in the centre of the street. 

As we progressed, we met a number of well-dressed peo- 
ple, of both sexes, who, seeing that we were strangers, bowed 
respectfully to us as we passed. Evidences of comfort, not 
to say elegance, now began to appear, and through an 
occasional open door we caught glimpses of sofas and easy 
chairs, and beds which a Sybarite might envy. Occasionally 
there were niches in the walls of the houses, in which were 
placed crosses, covered with faded flowers ; in some instances 
the crosses were simply fsistened to the walls, or planted at 
the corners of the streets. Advancing fiirther, we found our- 
selves in the shadow of a large and massive stone building, 
with terraces, domes, and towers, half Moresque, and alto- 
gether an architectural incongruity. It appeared to be 
very ancient, and I stopped Pedro, who strode ahead with the 
gait of a conquering hero, to inquire what building it might 
be. He said it was the ancient and now abandoned oonveut 
of San Francisco, and showed us the gratings through which 
its former inmates had intercourse with the world, and 
pointed out the wooden cross in front, made of cedar from 
Lebanon. I do not know how long Pedro would have run 
on, had I not cut his story short, by saying I would hear the 
rest to-morrow. Just then a party of soldiers defiled across 
the street in fi^nt of us. They were bare-footed, and wore 
white pantaloons and jackets, with funny little, black caps, 
banded with metal, and having little, round, red cockades 
stuck saucily in fix)nt. A dashing young ofGicer rode at 
their head, who lifted his hat gracefully to us. It was a 
scouting party just coming in. We followed them with our 
eyes down the street, and saw that sentinels were stationed 
at the corners, but two squares distant, and that the streets 
near the plaza were barricaded with adobes and timbers, with 
a single embrasure in the centre, through which a cannon 
looked grimly towards us. We now observed that soldiers 



140 NICARAGUA — IfARRATIYE. 

were stationed on the walk of the conventy and in the towen 
of the parochial church, which had just come in view. It 
was evident that the government and military were on the 
alert, and prepared for any emergency. We found the streets 
more animated, and the houses better built, as we approached 
the centre of the town ; women were moving hither and 
thither with trays, vegetables, bottles, and a hundred other 
commodities on their heads, and babies on their hips, and 
men with slouched hats, and breeches turned up to their 
knees, bare-footed, or wearing sandals, and carrying a large 
machete in their hands, were driving meek-looking horses, 
bearing loads, through the streets before them, or else with 
a long, iron-pointed pole, pricking on little compact oxen, 
fiwtened by the horns to long, heavy, awkward carta^ with 
solid wheels cut from the mahogany tree. Amongst these 
flitted now and then a priest, with his black robe, prepostex^ 
ous bell-crowned, fur hat, and gaudy umbrella. There were 
quiet seELoritas, also, moving slowly along, with a grace and 
dignity of motion seldom or never seen in our cities ; and 
gay fellows on fiery little horses, who dashed at a break-neck 
pace through the streets. It was a novel scene, and we had 
Ij^dly taken in its more striking features, when Pedro 
stopped before a large arched gateway, or portada^ as it is 
called here, and told us this was the " Casa del SefLor Don 
Frederioo." He unlatched the small door within the larger, 
and entering, we found ourselves in a broad corridor, com- 
pletely surrounding a court, in which were growing a num- 
ber of orange, marafion, and other fruit trees, fragrant 
bushes, and clumps of flowers. On one side was the store, 
filled with bales and boxes, and in front of it were huge 
scales for weighing commodities ; while the sala, dining, and 
private rooms occupied the remaining two sides of the court 
In one corner of the corridor were two or three movable 
desks, where Don Frederico's children were engaged in their 
afternoon lessons with their tutor, a pale, intellectual look- 



ovB hobt; don fbbdbrico. 141 

ing jormg man ; and just beyond, redining in a hammook^ 
was the portly form of Don Frederico himself Pedro ap- 
proached him, hat in hand, and with profoimd reverence, 
innounoed na. Oar host immediately rose, and in due 
coorae i delivered my letters, which were honored in a 
spirit of the most enlarged and liberal hospitality. A part 
of a spacions and commodious house immediately opposite, 
which was. occupied by the children of Don Frederico and 
their governess, was at once ordered to be prepared for our 
aocommodation, while a couple of carts were despatched to 
the shore for our luggage. Our reception was so warm and 
cordial, that I felt at once perfectly at home, and was de- 
lighted with the neatness and comfort of everything around 
08. Don Frederico was bom in Jamaica, but had resided for 
thirty yean in the country, where he had married, become a 
citizen, and accumulated a large fortune. Entertaining the 
respect and confidence of all parties, he had passed safely 
through all the troubles to which the country had been sub- 
jected. He seemed very little alarmed at the threatened 
attack on the city, and felt confident that the insurgents 
wrould ultimately be put down. Still, unless reinforcements 
speedily arrived firom the government, he anticipated that 
toouble might ensue, and perhaps an assaiQt be attempted, 
l>ecaafle Somoza was as daring as he was tmscrupulous. But 
even then it was only necessary to barricade the doors, and 
every house became a fortress. He had gone through seve- 
ral rerolutions, securely locked in, eating and sleeping as 
nsuaL When the affair was over, he opened the portada 
again, and things went on as before. 

As we had eaten scarcely anything during the day, our 
host gave us a cup of chocolate, pending the preparation of 
dinner. While thus engaged, we were surprised by the ap- 
pearance of an officer bearing a note from the commandante of 
the Plaza, congratulating us upon our safe arrival, and very 
coDBiderately proposing that some time should be named. 



142 NICARAGUA— NARRATiyB. 

when we were recovered firom our fiitigaes, to enable him to 
pay his respects in person. He also placed a guard at our dispo- 
sition, which I of course declined. EEardly had this messenger 
been despatched, before another, jBx)m the Prefect of the De- 
partment, made his appearance. The next day at noon was 
named for receptions, and meantime we instructed the pw^^ 
tero or gatekeeper to report us to all visitors as engaged. 

The evening passed delightfully with our host. It was a 
great relief to stretch one's legs once more beneath a table 
spread like our own at home ; a pleasure not slightly en- 
hanced by the presence of entirely new and curious dishes, 
upon the merits of which we successively passed summary, 
and generally favorable, judgments. A gentle shower mean- 
while pattered upon the tiled roofe, cooling and purifying the 
air; and we experienced, for the first time, the pleasures 
attending life in a well-appointed residence beneath the 
tropics. After the bell struck eight, we heard every five 
minutes the word " Alerte /" caught up in succession by the 
guards, in evidence that they were all awake, and keeping 
a bright lookout. Occasionally the " Quien vive?" or chal- 
lenge of the sentinel stationed at the comer of the street be- 
low us, was given with an emphasis which fell startlingly 
upon our unaccustomed ears. Our host was used to it. We 
were really in the midst of war and "its alarums," and felt 
all the better for it. We retired early to our new quarters, 
which consisted of a large sala, in which were a piano, ma- 
hogany tables and chairs, with sleeping apartments attached. 
Here we found that Ben, with an eye to all our wants, had 
arranged everything necessary to our comfort. Forty nights 
in close, narrow berths, in hammocks, and on the tops of 
boxes and trunks, had qualified us to enjoy the delightfully 
cool and scrupulously neat camas which that evening invited 
us to slumber. I bestowed myself in one without ceremony, 
and in less time than I am writing it, went to sleep, to dream 
of Somoza, storms on the lake, and a thousand incongruous 



FIRST NIGHT IN GHANADA. 



148 



lUAtters. Not did I wake until Ben, utterly renovated, and 
looking wonderfully genteel, came to announce that break* 
fast was ready. It was some seconds before I could compre- 
hend clearly where I was ; but once awake, I found myself 
thoroughly refreshed, and ready for any turn of events, — 
breakfast or revolutions. 




TBI PbAKTAIt 



CHAPTER V. 



^KSPTION-DAT— GENERAL RESPECT AND ADMIRATION TOR THE UNITED STATES — 
IKEITENINO RIDE — THE PLA2A— CHITRCHES — HOSPITAL — THE "jALTEVA** — 
DISKSTED MUNICIPALITT — ^MELANCHOLY RESULTS OF FACTION — THE ARSENAL — 
VATURAL DEFENCES OF THE CITY — "CAMPO SANTO ' — ^AN EX-DIRECTOR AND 
HIS "hacienda" — SHORE OF THE LAKE IN THE EYENING— OLD CASTLE — 
THE " ORACIOn" — ^AN EVENINO TISIT TO THE SENORITAS — OPERA AMIDST 
ORANGE GROVES — " ALERTAS" AND " QUIEN VIVAS?" — THE GRANADINAS AT 
HOME — AN EPISODE ON WOMEN AND DRESS — MR. ESTEVENS — " LOS MALDI- 
VM INOLBSES" — A FEMALE ANTIQUARLkN COADJUTOR — " CIGARITAS" — ^IN- 
DUN GIRLS — COUNTRYMEN — ^AN AMERICAN "mEDICO" — ^NATIVE HOSPITALITY 
TO STRANGERS — THE WAYS INFESTED BY " FACCIOSOS" — ^AN AMERICAN 
TURNED BACK — EXPECTED ASSAULT ON THE CITY, AND PATRIOTIC RESOLVES 
"to die under the AMERICAN FLAO" — A NOTE ON HORSES AND SADDLES 
— ^VISIT to the cacao ESTATES OF THE MALACCAS — ^THE CACAO TREE — 
DAY-DREAMS — ^AN ADVENTURE ALMOST— GRIEVOUS DISAPPOINTMENT — SOMOZA, 

THE ROBBER CHIEF— OUR ARMORY — FEVERISHKESS OF THE PUBLIC MIND 

LIFE UNDER THE TROPICS — A FRIGHTENED AMERICAN, WHO HAD " SEEN SO- 
MOZA," AND HIS ACCOUNT OF THE INTERVIEW — SOMOZa's LOVE FOR THE 

AMERICANS GOOD NEWS FROM LEON — APPROACH OF THE GENERAL IN CHIEF, 

AND AN ARMED AMERICAN ESCORT — CONDmON OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS — PRO- 
CLAMATION OF THE SUPREME DIRECTOR — DECREES OF THE GOVERNMENT — 
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND PUBLIC ADDRESSES — HOW THEY EXHIBITED 

THE POPULAR FEELING ^NICARAGUAN RHETORIC — DECISIVE MEASURES TO 

PUT DOWN THE INSURGENTS — GENERAL CALL TO ARMS — MARTIAL LAW — 
PUBUCATION OF A "BANDA" GREAT PREPARATIONS TO RECEIVE THE GEN- 
ERAL or CHIEF AND HIS " VETERANOS" — NO FURTHER FEAR OF THE " FAO- 

CIOSOS" A BREAK-NECK RIDE TO THE " LAGUNA DE SALINAS" — A VOLCANIC 

LAKE — ^DESCENT TO THE WATER — HOW CAME ALLIGATORS THERE ? — NATIVE 
"aguardiente" "not bad to take" — RETURN TO THE CITY — A RELI- 
GIOUS PROCESSION — THE HOST — INCREASING TOLERANCE OF THE PEOPLE — 
PREPARATIONS FOR " LA MANANA." 



At noon, agreeably to appointment, we were waited upon 
by the dignitaries of the city, and the commander of the gar- 

19 



146 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

rison, together with a large number of the leading inhabitants. 
They all exhibited the same cordiality with the ruder por- 
tion of the population, and a degree of refinement and cour- 
tesy which would have done credit to more pretending capi- 
tals. We were a little startled by the somewhat exaggerated 
tone of compliment, both in respect to ourselves and our 
country, which ran through their conversation, and which 
seems characteristic of the Spanish people wherever found, 
in the Old World or the New. All concurred in represent- 
ing the present unsettled state of public affairs as in a great 
measure due to foreign intervention and intrigue ; and re- 
ferred to the seizure of San Juan, and the English encroach- 
ments on their territories, in a tone of indignation and re- 
proach, commensurate with the indignity and outrage to 
which they had been subjected. They seemed to entertain 
the highest hopes from the opening of more intimate relations 
with the United States ; but, unacquainted with the nature^ 
constitutional powers, and the policy of our government, 
these hopes were, as a matter of course, somewhat vague ; yet 
it was not unnatural that, distracted within, and subjected to 
unscrupulous aggression from without, the United States 
should be looked to as a conciliator of intestine factions, as a 
friend, and a protector. I was deeply impressed with the 
feeling which they manifested, and was convinced that if 
once treated with consideration, and taught to respect them- 
selves as a nation, there was no reason why the States of the 
Isthmus should not take a respectable rank amongst the re- 
publics of the continent. The interview was highly interest- 
ing, and gave me more elevated views of the temper of the 
people of the country than I had gathered from what had 
been published concerning them; an impression which a 
further and more intimate acquaintance only tended to 
confirm. 

Towards evening, in company with Col. Trinidad Salazar, 
the commandant of the Plaza, we took a ride through the 



THE PLAZA — CHURCHES. 147 

city and its environs. We found that with the exception of 
the Church of La Mercedes, and the Convent of San Francis- 
co, already mentioned, there were few buildings at all re- 
markable or imposing. The Parochial Church, on the plaza, 
is very ancient, and distinguished as containing the bones of 
several of the first bishops of Nicaragua, which was estab- 
lished as a diocess as early as 1532. The interior was far 
from imposing. It had some paintings, too ancient to be dis- 
tinguished, with some indifferent prints of saints, and scenes 
in the life of Christ and the apostles. Upon one side of the 
plaza is the &9ade of the unfinished church of San Juan de 
Dioc, which was designed to be the most beautiful in the city, 
but for some reason was never finished. The fa9ade is very 
elaborate, and profusely loaded with ornament. It has been 
standing in its present condition for more than a hundred 
years. A hospital has been erected in the area it was intend- 
ed to occupy, which is supported by a small market tax 
and voluntary contributions. Buildings of one or two stories, 
with spacious corridors in front, extend round two sides of 
the square, in which are some of the principal retail " tieji- 
da^^ of the city. The wares of the shopkeepers were as con- 
spicuously displayed as in some of the minor streets at home ; 
while in fi*ont were the market-women, with fruits, cacao, 
maize, and all the various edibles of the season. These were 
generally placed in baskets, or spread on a white sheet on 
the ground, in a style probably very little different from that 
practised by the aborigines at the time of the Conquest. All 
the streets leading from the plaza were barricaded, and we 
found advance posts of troops in every part of the city. 

From the grand plaza we rode through the narrow streets, 
between long rows of substantial houses, in the direction of 
the municipality of Jalteva.* Dashing up a broad causeway, 



1 ^118 municipality is mostly made up of Indians. The present name, 
** Jaik&va^ Is probably a corruption of the Indian " SaUehOj" the name 



148 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVK. 

with heavy flanking walls, surmounted by urns, we came at 
once into the second grand plaza. Here we found the build- 
ings more scattered, and of a poorer character ; huts of canes 
alternating with adobe houses and open lots of ground. The 
plaza was deserted, and as we rode along we observed thai 
the whole quarter seemed depopulated. We found, upon 
inquiry, that this municipality was the stronghold of the 
" Calandracas," and hereditarily jealous of the city proper. 
This hostility led to the collision of which we had heard, 
in which the disaflfected party had suflered a defeat ; where- 
upon, either from fear, or with a design of organizing for 
sharper work, they had chiefly fled " al monte^^^ to the fields. 
Those who remained, with scarcely an exception, had moved, 
for greater security, within the city. The silence and deso- 
lation which reigned in this deserted quarter was a mournful 
commentary on partisan feuds. A few dogs and unclaimed 
cattle wandered despondingly amongst the houses, as if in 
search of their masters ; but beyond these there were no 
signs of life. 

Passing the Jalteva, we came into the broad open road 
leading to Leon, and soon reached a square compact build- 
ing, which was the arsenal. It was surrounded by a high 
wall, and at the corners were erected towers, looped for 
musketry, each containing a guard of soldiers. A cannon 
looked morosely through the open gateway, around which 
was a company of lancers, just returned from some expedi- 
tion. Their lances, to each of which was hung a little red 
streamer, flashed in the sun as they fell into line on the ap- 
proach of the commandante ; while the guards, on the tap^of 
thfe drum, leaped to their feet, and presented arms. Just 
beyond the arsenal is what the commandante called the 
natural defence of the city. It is a deep, narrow ravine, 

of the aboriginal town which occupied tJie site of Granada before ^nt 
city was built. 



AK EVENING RIDE. 149 

with absolutely precipitous walls, worn by the rains through 
the volcanic or calcareous breccia upon which the city is 
built It extends on three sides of the town, and can be 
passed only in one or two places, where lateral inclined 
planes have been artificially cut from the top to the bottom 
on one side, and from the bottom to the top on the other. It 
is a feature of some importance in calculating the means of 
defending the city, and probably had something to do in de- 
termining its site. 

From the arsenal we turned oS to the left, following a 
broad, weU-beaten path, which wound beneath a complete 
archway of trees, vines, and flowers, in the direction of the 
" Oampo Santo,^^ or burial place of the city. This is an area 
of several acres of ground in extent, surrounded by a high 
wall of adobes, neatly whitewashed, and entered beneath a 
lofty gateway, surmounted by a cross, and bearing a Latin in- 
scription, which I have forgotten. There was little to see ; 
and, as the gates were shut, we could not enter ; so, turning 
in the direction of the lake, we galloped to the hacienda of 
Don Jose Leon Sandoval, passing on the way, in a pictur- 
esque glen, shadowed over with trees, the " corral " or cattle 
yard of the estate. A brisk ride through the bushes brought 
us to the house, built upon a high terrace, overlooking the 
lake and city, and embowered in palm, marafion, orange, 
and jocote trees. The proprietor was out somewhere on the 
estate, and we started to find him, which we soon succeeded 
in doing. He was mounted on a splendid mule, and just 
returning from inspecting the day's work of the " mozosj^^ or 
what in New England would be called " hired help." Don 
Jose proved to be a plainly dressed, substantial person, bet- 
ing a close likeness to General Taylor. Upon my mentioning 
the fact, he bowed low, in acknowledgment, and said that he 
knew the General was a farmer-soldier and a citizen-Presi- 
dent ; and he only hoped that the resemblance might extend 
from person, which was of little, to character, which was of 



160 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

greater, consequence. Don Jose had once been Director of 
the State, but had resigned the office, preferring, he said, to 
be a good former rather than a poor director. We followed 
him over various parts of the estate to his indigo vats and 
drying houses, and to his plantain and cacao walks and corn- 
fields, all of which we found to be in capital order, and bear- 
ing the evidences of intelligence, enterprise, industry, and 
care. 

After a pleasant interview of half an hour, we bade Don 
Jose ^^huena tarde^^^ and descended to the shores of the lake, 
just as the sun was setting, throwing the whole beach in the 
shade, while the fairy "Corales" were swimming in the 
evening light. The shore was ten-fold more animated than 
when we landed the previous day; men on horseback, 
women on foot, sailors, fishermen, idlers, children, and a 
swarm of water-carriers, mingling together, gave life to the 
scene ; while boats and graceful canoes, drawn up on the 
beach, bongos rocking at their anchors outside, the grim old 
fort frowning above, and the green border of trees, with 
bars of sunlight streaming between them, all contributed to 
heighten and give eflfect to the picture. We rode up the 
glacis of the old castle, through its broken archway, into its 
elevated area, and looked out beyond the broad and beauti- 
ful lake, upon the distant shores of Chontales, with its earth- 
quake-riven hills, and ragged, volcanic craters. Their rough 
features were brought out sharply and distinctly in the slant- 
ing light which gilded the northern slope of the gigantic 
volcano of Momobacho, while its eastern declivity slept in 
purple shadow. We were absorbed in contemplating one 
by one these varied beauties, when the bells of the city 
struck the hour of the " oracion." In an instant every voice 
was hushed, the horseman reined in his steed, the ropes 
dropped from the hands of the sailor, the sentinel on the 
fort stopped short in his round, even the water-jars were left 
half-filled, while every hat was removed, and every lip 



AN BVBNING VISIT. 161 

moved in prayer. The very waves seemed to break more 
gently on the shore, in harmony with the vibrations of the 
distant beUs ; while the subdued hum of reverential voices 
filled the pauses between. There was something almost 
magical in this sudden hush of th^ multitude, and its appar- 
ently entire absorption in devotion, which could not Ml 
deeply to impress the stranger witnessing it for the first time. 

No sooner, however, had the bells ceased to toll, and struck 
up the concluding joyful chime, than the crowd on the shore 
resumed its life and gayety, while we put spurs to our horses, 
and dashed through their midst, on our return to the city. 
The comimandante and his companions would only leave me 
at my door, where we were saluted by our host with "Saved 
your distance, gentlemen ; dinner is ready I" 

An evening visit to the Se&orita Teresa finished our first 
entire day in Chranada. This young lady had been educated 
in the United States, spoke English very well, and was 
withal a proficient in music, — accomplishments which we 
never before learned to estimate at their true value. It was 
worth something to hear well executed passages fi*om fa- 
miliar operas, amidst tangible aud not painted orange trees 
and palms, and in an atmosphere really loaded with tropical 
perfumes, instead of the odors of oU-pots and gas-lights. 
Eight o'clock was the signal for general withdrawal from the 
streets, for then commenced the rigors of the military police, 
and the city became at once still and quiet. The occasional 
barking of a dog, the tinkling of a distant guitar, the sough- 
ing of the evening wind amongst the trees of the court-yard, 
the measured tread and graduated " alertas T' of the sentinels, 
were the only interruptions to the almost sepulchral silence. 
While returning to our quarters, we were startled by the 
"Quien vive?" of the sentinel, uttered in a tone absolutely 
ferocious, and as these fellows rarely parleyed long, we 
answered with all expedition, " La Patria," which was fol- 
lowed on the instant by " Que gente ?" " Americanos del 



162 KICARAGUA— KABBATIYE. 

Norte." This was enough; these, we found, were magio 
words, which opened every heart and every door in all Nica- 
ragua. They never failed us. We felt proud to know that 
no such charm attached to "Ingleses," *' Alemanes," or 
" Franceses." 

The day following, in accordance with the " costumbres 
del pais," the customs of the country, we returned the visits 
of the preceding day, and began to see more of the domestic 
and social life of the citizens of Granada. We found the 
residences all comfortable, and many elegant, governed by 
mistresses simple, but graceful and confiding in their manners. 
They were frank in their conversation, and inquired with 
the utmost naivete whether I was married or intended to be, 
and if the ladies of El Norte would probably visit Granada, 
when the " Vapores grandes," the great steamers, came to 
run to San Juan, and the " Vaporcitas," steameretts, to ply 
on the lake and river. They had heard of a Mr. Estevens, 
(their nearest approach to Stephens,) who had written a book 
about their "pobre pais," their poor country, and were 
anxious to know what he had said of them, and whether our 
people really regarded them as " esclavos y brutos sin ver- 
guenza," slaves and brutes without shame, as the abominable 
English (los malditos Ingleses) had represented them. They 
were also very anxious to know whether the party of Cali- 
fornians which had passed through were " gente comun," 
common people, or " caballeros," gentlemen; upon which 
point, however, we were diplomatically evasive, for there 
was more in the inquiry than we chose to notice. One lady 
had heard that I was a great antiquarian, and anticipatory 
to my visit, had got together a most incongruous collection 
of curiosities, from " vasos antiguos," fragments of pottery, 
and stone hatchets, down to an extraordinary pair of horn 
spectacles, and a preposterously distorted hog's hoof, — all of 
which she insisted on sending to my quarters, which she did, 
with some rare birds, and a plate of dulces I At every house 



LAB GRAKADINAS AT HOME. 168 

ipe found a table spread with wines and sweetmeats, and 
l)earing a little silver brazier filled with burning coals, for 
the greater convenience of lighting cigars. I excited much 
surprise by declining to smoke, on the ground that I had 
never done so; but the ladies insisted on my taking a 
"cigarito," which they said wouldn't injure a new-born babe, 
and paid me the compliment of lighting it with their own 
fiur lips, after which it would have been rank treason to 
etiquette, and would have ruined my reputation for gallantry, 
had I refused. I at first endeavored to shirk the responsi- 
bility of smoking by thrusting it into my pocket, but found 
that as soon as one disappeared another was presented, so 
I was obliged " to fece the music" in the end. In every 
sala we found a large hammock suspended from the walls, 
which was invariably tendered to the visitor, even when 
Uiere were easy chairs and so&s in the room. This is the 
seat of honor. 

The women of pure Spanish stock are very feir, and have 
the embonpoint which characterizes the sex under the tropics. 
Their dress, except in a few instances where the stiff cos- 
tame oi our own country had been adopted, was exceedingly 
loose and flowing, leaving the neck and arms exposed. The 
entire dress was often pure white, but generally the skirt, or 
naguOy was of some flowered stuff, in which case the guipU 
{anglicej Vandyke) was white, heavily trimmed with lace. 
Satin slippers, a red or purple sash wound loosely round the 
waist, and a rosary sustaining a little golden cross, with a 
narrow golden band or a string of pearls extending around 
the fordiead and binding the hair, which often fell in luxu- 
riant waves upon their shoulders, completed a costume as 
novel as it was graceful and picturesque. To all this, add 
the superior attractions of an oval face, regular features, large 
and lustrous black eyes, small mouth, pearly white teeth, 
and tiny hands and feet, and withal a low but clear voice, 
and the reader has a picture of a Central American lady of 



164 NICARAGUA— NABAATITS. 

pure stock. Very many of the women have, however, an 
infusion of other fetmilies and races, from the Saracen to 
the Indian and the Negro, in every degree of intermixtuie. 
And as tastes differ, so may opinions as to whether the tinge 
of brown, through which the blood glows with a peach*like 
bloom, in the complexion of the girl who may trace her 
lineage to the caziques upon one side, and the haughty gran* 
dees of Andalusia and Seville on the other, superadded, as 
it usually is, to a greater lightness of figure and animation of 
face, — ^whether this is not a more real beauty than that of 
the fair and more languid sefiora, whose white and almosl 
transparent skin bespeaks a purer ancestry. Nor is the 
Indian girl, with her fiill, lithe figure, long, glossy hair, quick 
and mischievous eyes, who walks erect as a grenadier be* 
neath her heavy water-jar, and salutes you in a musical, im« 
pudent voice as you pass — nor is the Indian girl to be 
overlooked in the novel contrasts which the "bello sexo" 
afifords in this glorious land of the sun. 

We called upon several French and Italian families resi- 
dent in Granada, but found that a long period of naturaliza- 
tion had completely assimilated them to the natives of the 
country, with whom they had largely intermarried. But 
what surprised us most was, that in the best houses it was no 
uncommon thing to find a shop occupying the " esquina," or 
comer, or a room on one side of the court, in which few of 
the ladies thought it derogatory to their dignity or a violation 
of propriety, to preside on any necessary occasion. In &ct, 
these shops were generally superintended by the wife of the 
proprietor, seated with her sewing in her lap, in an easy 
chair, behind the low counter. And even in entertaining 
her visitors in the grand sala, it was common for the lady to 
keep an eye to what was passing in the " tienda," through a 
convenient, open door. In the larger establishments, how- 
ever, there exists all the paraphernalia of clerks and attend- 
ants which we find at home. 



THE SOBBEB CHIBFTAIN. 166 

When we returned firom our visits, we found a party of 
three Americans waiting for us. One was Dr. S., who had 
resided for many years in the country, where he held the 
first place as a "medico," and was a universal &vorite 
amongst all classes of the people. By him we were intro- 
duced to the others, both of whom had come out with the 
oompany of Californians to which I have alluded. Mr. P., 
who was to have acted as engineer of the preposterous craft 
which was anchored off the Castillo, was reduced by illness, 
and being unable to accompany the party, had abandoned 
it, and was thus &r on his return to the United States; 
but sick and destitute, was now anxiously awaiting my arri- 
val, to procure the means of reaching home. He, however, 
was comfortably situated, having been generously and hos- 
{ntably received by Sefior Lacayo, a prominent native mer- 
chant, who had, in the current phrase of the country, placed 
^^bis house at the disposition " of the stranger. The third 
person was a young physician firom New Haven, from whom 
we learned that the Califomians were still detained at Leon 
and CUnandega, waiting for a vessel to take them off, in 
great impatience and discontent. Wearied of the delays, 
this gentleman had returned on a flying visit to Granada, 
where he had been staying for a fortnight. Meantime, the 
disturbances in the country had come to a crisis, and the day 
of our arrival he had attempted to return to Leon, but 
was turned back by armed parties on the road, who gave 
him the unsolicited pleasure of looking down their presented 
musket-barrels, by way of enforcing their wishes. The 
doctor, who had met Somoza in times past, and entertained 
a good deal of faith in his personal influence and prowess, 
informed us that the rebel chief had once been imprisoned 
in Granada, and owed it a special spite. He had sworn to 
bum the city, and the doctor was of opinion that he would 
keep his word. He thought we might, any night, have an 
attack ; but felt confident that foreigners, keeping out of the 



156 NICARAGUA — ^NABBATIVE. 

way, would sustain no injury. At any rate, if the worst 
came to the worst, we could all collect together, under the 
American flag, and between revolvers, rifles, and what not 
new invention, make a respectable flght against the poorly 
armed assailants. And by way of encouragement, the doctor 
gave us an animated account of a party of foreigners, but five 
or six in niunber, who some years before had sustained a siege 
of three days, in this very city, and kept their assailants at 
bay, until they were dispersed by the troops of the govern- 
ment 

I had arranged that afternoon to ride to the cacao estates 

called the " Malaccas," distant about five miles from Ghtina- 
da ; and although the city was full of stories about the " fiic- 
ciosos" who infested the country, I persisted in my determi- 
nation to go. My companions thought they could entertain 
themselves very well in the city; so I armed Ben, and 
with an English Creole merchant resident here, who kindly 
furnished horses, started for the Malaccas. We had already 
discovered that the horses of Nicaragua were of the Arabian 
stock ; and although like the Arab horses small, they were 
compact, fleet, good tempered, spirited, and of excellent bot- 
tom. As all travelling here is performed on horseback 
or on mules, great care is used in breaking and training 
saddle beasts, while their price depends less upon their 
beauty than upon their training. They are all taught 
a rapid but exceedingly easy gait, between trotting and 
pacing, called the paso-trote. A well-trained horse strikes at 
once into this gait, and keeps it steadily from morning to 
night. I have ridden them from twenty to forty miles at a 
heat, without once breaking the pace, and with less fatigue 
than would be occasioned in riding the best saddle-horses in 
the United States for a distance of five miles. At this gait 
the horse gets over the level roads of Nicaragua, at from 
six to eight miles the hour. The same animal is fre- 
quently taught several gaits, and may be forced into one. 



HORSBS AND HORSEMEN. 167 

or the other by a peculiar pressure on the bit, which is very 
different from those used in the United States, and gives the 
most perfect control of the animal to the rider. Besides the 
paso-trote, which may be called the ordinary gait, the horses 
are taught an easy amble, the paso-UanOj which is very rapid, 
and yet so gentle that, as observed by a recent Peruvian 
traveller, the rider may carry a cup of water in his hand 
without spilling a drop, while going at the rate of six miles 
an hour. There are also other gaits taught to different 
horses, which have each their advocates ; among them the 
paso-portaniej in which the horse raises the fore and hind foot 
of each side simultaneously, causing a rapid see-saw motion, 
not agreeable to riders generally. 

The saddles are modifications of the Mexican saddle, with 
high peaks, over which are thrown gaudily colored sheep* 
skins, here called " pillons," or " pellons." The equipment is 
not complete without a pair of holsters and pistols ; and a 
Nicaraguan " caballero" is never so much in his element as 
when mounted on a spirited, champing horse, with a fenciful 
"pillon," jingling bit, and portentous spurs, his sombrero, 
covered with oiled silk, set jauntily on the side of his head, 
with a sefiora or two in a neighboring balcony to whom he 
may lift his hat as he passes by. The ordinary saddle, or 
" albarda," is a very cheap affair, and will hardly admit of a 
description which shall be comprehensible to the uninitiated 
reader. It is sometimes used from preference, but my expe- 
rience would never lead me to recommend it to any but an 
inveterate enemy. 

The road to the Malaccas passed through an unbroken 
forest, into which we struck almost as soon as we left the 
city. It was level, completely arched over with trees, whose 
dense foliage shuts off the sun ; while cactuses, and shrubs 
whose fragrant flowers almost compensated for the thorns 
which pricked one's legs, and scratched one's hands in 
endeavoring to pluck them, fenced in the path with a wall of 



168 NICABAGUA— NARRATIVK 

verdure. Here and there we caught glimpses of the lake 
through a vista of trees, while at intervals, narrow, well- 
beaten paths branched off to the " hattos" and haciendas 
which were scattered over the country, away fix>m the prin- 
cipal thoroughfares. We met men and boys driving or 
riding mules loaded with corn, sacatt (grass), fruits, wood, 
and all the various articles of common use in the city, and 
occasionally a woman going in with a basket of chickens, 
sausages, coffee, or cacao, to be offered the next morning in 
the market The entire stock, in some instances, was hardly 
worth a trndio (sixpence), but this, it should be remembered, 
is no insignificant sum, in a country where a rwl (twelve 
and a half cents) is the daily wages of a working man. All 
these people bowed with the grace of courtiers as we rode 
by ; for all, from the highest to the lowest, from the little 
Indian boy who clasps his hands before him and says " buena 
dia, seflor," to the lady who inclines her fan to her lips in 
token of recognition, have an apparently instinctive sense of 
politeness. 

After riding some miles, we came to open fields, and passed 
by several fine estates surrounded by ditches and cactus 
fences in ftill bloom. The fourth was that which we came 
specially to visit. A man opened the gate, and we rode in 
and dismounted under the corridor of the house, which was 
a large, square structure, built of adobes, and tiled. The 
proprietor was not at home, and the femily, in the unsettled 
state of the country, had retired to the city. We were nev- 
ertheless received with the greatest civility by the mayor- 
domo, who insisted that we were hot and thirsty, and wanted 
" algo fresco^'^ and incontinently despatched a boy to get 
some fresh cocoa-nuts, the milk of which, when the nut is 
not too much matured, is transparent as water, and makes a 
cool and delightful beverage, — especially when a drop of 
brandy is mixed in " to take off the edge," and prevent 
fevers I The mayor-domo complained loudly of the condi* 



THE KALACCAS— CACAO ESTATES. 169 

tion of public affiiirs ; now was the time for collecting the 
cacao, but no men were to be had ; a few of those who had 
been employed on the estate were implicated in the insurrec- 
tion, others had been pressed into the army, and still others 
had fled to the seclusion of the fields, to avoid the same £Eite. 
He had only half a dozen boys and some women to assist 
him, and they were "sin valor, nada," of small account. He 
showed us a large square space where the ground was beaten 
hard and swept clean, in which the nuts, after being removed 
firom the husks, were spread on skins to dry. They required 
to be turned often to prevent moulding, and after becoming 
thoroughly dry, had to be carefully assorted, one by one, and 
packed in skins. 

Aft;er resting awhile, we mounted again, and riding through 
a long gravelled walk, completely fenced in and arched over 
by magnificent mango trees, now literally golden with finiit, 
and through a vista of orange trees beyond, flanked by marafl- 
ons, we entered the cacao plantation. It is difficult to de- 
scribe these plantations ; they more resemble beautiful parks 
of large trees, with broad walks running in every direction, 
all kept scrupulously neat and clean, than anything else in 
the United States with which they can be compared. The 
tree producing the firuit is known to botanists by the generic 
name of Theobroma^ from the Greek, and signifying food for 
a god. It seldom rises higher than twenty feet ; its leaves 
are large, oblong, and pointed, somewhat resembling those of 
the cherry tree, but infinitely larger ; flowers small, and of a 
pale red color : they are surrounded by oval-pointed pods, 
grooved like a musk-melon, although much smaller ; the nuts 
are very numerous, some pods containing as many as fifty ; 
it produces two crops a-year, but is never without some pods 
on it The trees are planted about fourteen feet apart, in a 
good soil. It is peculiarly necessary to defend this tree ftom 
the scorching rays of the sun, and at the same time sufficient 
warmth should be afiforded for vegetation ; this is done by 



160 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

shading it with the plantain tree and the Erythrina. As the 
cacao advances in size, the plantain is cut down, the Ery* 
thiina, or corcU tree, or as it is sometimes called ^^ cacao 
madre,^^ mother of the cacao, having attained sufficient height 
to protect it from the sun. It begins to bear at seven years 
old, and comes to perfection in about fifteen years. The 
coral tree grows to about the height of sixty feet, and entirely 
drops its leaves (in Nicaragua) about the end of March and 
beginning of April, and then becomes covered with flowers 
of a bright crimson, and shaped like a cimetar. At this sea* 
son an extensive plain, covered with cacao plantations, is a 
magnificent object, when viewed from a height. The tops of 
the far-stretching forests of Erythrina then present the ap- 
pearance of being clothed with flames. The cacao, it may 
be added, is indigenous to America, and became early an 
article of general consumption by the Spanish Americans, as 
it had been of the Indians fi-om time immemorial. Subse- 
quently to the Discovery it was introduced into the Canary 
and Phillipine islands by the Spaniards. It was called tlaka- 
cahvatl by the ancient Mexicans; amongst whom, as also 
among the natives of Central America, New Granada, and 
Peru, it was used as money, or a medium of exchange. It is 
still used as such in the markets of the cities of Granada and 
Leon. One hundred and fifty of the nuts were formerly 
valued at a dollar, which is, I believe, their present valua- 
tion. The cacao of Nicaragua is regarded .as second to none, 
unless to that of Soconusco, which, during the Spanish do- 
minion, was a monopoly of the crown. It is almost entirely 
consumed in the country, where it commands double the 
price of the Guayaquil, that which usually reaches the United 
States.^ The taste for chocolate grows with its use, and 

' Great confusion exists in the popular mind in respect to Cocoa^ Cacao^ 
and Coca^ which are very generally confounded with each other, although 
differing as widely as almost any three products which it is possible to 
mention. Cocoa \& the name given to a ^ecies of palm, producing the 



COCOA — CACAO — COCA. 161 

hardly any person resides under the tropics for any length of 
time, to whom it does not become more an article of necessi- 
ty than luxury. " He who has drunk one cup," says Cortcz, in 
one of his letters, " can travel a whole day without any other 
food, especially in very hot climates ; for chocolate is, by its 
nature, cold and refreshing." And the quaint old traveller 
in Central America, Gage, devotes a whole chapter to its 
praise, the manner of its use, and its effects on the human 
system. He asserts that chocolate " is an Indian name, com- 
pounded from aO, which in the Mexican language signifies 
ttxiter, and choco-ckoco'choco^ the sound which water makes 
when stirred in a cup." He claims for it a most healthful 
influence, and bears his testimony as follows : " For myself 
I must say, I used it for twelve years constantly, drinking one 
cup in the morning, another yet before dinner, between nine 
and ten of the clock ; another within an hour or two after 
dinner, and another between four and five in the afternoon ; 
and when I purposed to sit up late to study, I would take 
another cup about seven or eight at night, which would keep 

O0ooa-ntt<, which is too well known to need description. Coooo, the fruit 
of the cacao-tree, {Thedbroma cacao j) described in the text. This fruit is 
described in the scientific books '^ as a large coriaceous capsule, having 
nearly the form of a cucumber, from the seeds of which the buttery and 
slightly bitter substance called cacao, or chocolate, is prepared." Coca is 
the name given to a Bhmh,(^^i^rooajlon coca,) which grows on the eastern 
decUvities of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia ; and is, to the natives of those 
countries, what opium and betel are to those of Southern Asia. Its leaves, 
which are chewed by the Indians, have such an effect in allaying hunger 
and thirst, that those who use them can subsist several days without any 
other nourishment The shrub grows about six feet in height, with bright 
green leaves and white blossoms. When the leaves are ripe, that is to 
say, when they crack on being bent, they are gathered and dried. They 
are chewed or eaten with a little unslacked Hme, to give them a relish. 
When constantly used, they produce some of the ddeterious effects of 
opium. 

21 



162 NICARAGUA — ^NABBATIVE. 

me waking till about midnight And if by cbance I did ne- 
glect any of these accustomed hours, I presently found my 
stomach fainty. And with this custom I lived for twelve 
years in these parts, healthy, without any obstructions, or 
oppilations ; not knowing what either Fever or Ague was." 
He, however, warns against the use of the cacao before pre- 
paration, for the reason that the simple nut, when eaten, as 
it often is by the Creole and Indian women, " doth notably 
obstruct and cause stoppings, and makes them look of a pale 
and earthy color, as do those that eat earthenware and pieces 
oflimewall."^ 

As I have already said, the cacao tree is so delicate, and so 
sensitive to exposure, that great care is required to preserve 
it during the early periods of its growth. It commences 
to bear in seven or eight years, and continues productive 
for from thirty to fifty years. Capital and time are there- 
fore required to start an estate ; but once established, it is 
easily enlarged by annual additions. One man, it is calcu- 

* After giving expression tx) his enthusiasm on the subject of Cacao, 
Gttge becomes philosophical, and discourses thus lucidly upon what, in 
these transcendental days, would be called '* the dual nature, harmoniously 
blended," of this wonderful product : 

" Cacao, although a Simple, contains the Quality of the four Elements ; 
yet it is held to be cold and dry, et prcvdomino. It is also in the sub- 
stance that rules these two Qualities, restringent and obstructive, of the 
Nature of the Element of the Earth. And as it is thus a mixed and not a 
Simple Element, it hath parts correspondent to the rest of the Elements ; 
and particularly it partakes of those which correspond with the Element 
of Air, — that is, heat and moisture, which are governed by unctuous parts ; 
there being drawn out of the cacao much Butter, which I have often seen 
drawn out of it by the Criolian women to oint their faces. * * And 
this is very conformable to reason, if we consider that every Element, be 
it never so simple, begets and produceth in the liver four Humors, not 
only differing in temper but substance ; and begets more or less of that 
Humor, according as the Element hath more or fewer parts corresponding 
to the substance of that humor which is most ingendered." — A New Sur- 
vey of the West Indies^ p. 239. 



CULTIVATION OP THE CACAO. 168 

lated, is able to take care of a thousand trees, and liarvest 
their crop. As a consequence, cacao estates are more valu- 
able than those of sugar, indigo, cotton, or cochineal. A 
good plantation, with fair attention, will yield an average 
annual product of twenty ounces of cacao to every tree, which 
for one thousand trees equals twelve hundred pounds. At 
the usual market rate of twenty-five dollars the quintal, this 
would give three hundred dollars per annum to each thou- 
sand trees and each laborer. Owing to a variety of causes, — 
some of the most important are obvious enough from what I 
have already said, — this yield is seldom obtained in Nicara- 
gua ; but may be when order is fully restored, and labor and 
its wages properly organized. No means exist for obtaining 
even an approximate estimate of this branch of production 
in Nicaragua, and I shall not therefore attempt to present 
any statistics on the subject, but proceed with my narrative. 
I was delighted with the plantation, and after riding for 
an hour, until we got bewildered amongst the cross-walks 
and avenues, we began to thread our course back again. 
This was no easy matter, and we marched and counter- 
marched for a long time before we struck the right path. 
This will not appear so surprising when I say that the plan- 
tation contained ninety-five thousand trees, which are valued 
at one dollar each. 

Once in the main road, we paced slowly along on our return 
to the city, with that feeling of satisfaction which is always 
experienced after visiting an object that more than realizes 
the anticipation. I began to indulge the pleasing fimcy that 
I might yet come to have a cacao plantation, which would 
^ just the thing for a student or a man who loved his ease. 
It would require no expensive machinery, no long practice 

• 

m manipulation of any kind ; a boy could go through all the 
^ple processes, and the whole might be left for a year or 
two without suffering the deterioration of sugar, rice, or 
cotton plantations. The smnmers in El Norte, and the win- 



161 NICARAGUA — KARRATTYE. 

ters here amidst the cacao and orange, with only a few days 
of steaming between, — of course the thing was feasible. 

While indulging such reveries as these, my horse, which 
was the fSsbstest walker, had carried me some distance ahead 
of my companion, when turning a sharp comer, I came 
abruptly upon a party of armed men, reclining in easy atti- 
tudes under a large cebia tree. I at once drew rein, and 
they as suddenly leaped to their feet and formed in line. 
My companion at that moment coming up, hurried past me, 
in evident anxiety as to the character of the party, and I fol- 
lowed close at his heels. One who seemed to be in command, 
stepped forward as we approached, exclaiming, "Quien 
vive ?" " Amigos, " friends, replied my companion, cautiously 
avoiding the pass-word of the government, until he knew 
whether the party was a strolling band of " facciosos," or 
regular troops of the State. Meantime we continued to 
approach, as if in perfect confidence, until ordered to stop 
by the person in authority, who advanced a few steps and 
scrutinized us for some moments, and then, with the air of a 
man satisfied, motioned us to go on. As I passed, he lifted 
his hat in recognition, exclaiming, " Adios, Sefior Ministro !" 

It was a disguised scout from the garrison, on the lookout 
for a party of insurgents which was reported to be commit- 
ting some excesses in this direction. I had been quite ex- 
cited with the prospect of an adventure, and even indulged 
a vague hope that the one in command might prove to be 
Somoza himself; the upshot was, therefore, something of a 
disappointment. An interview with the robber chief, whose 
name carried terror through the whole country, and a hand- 
some villain withal, — what a paragraph it would have made 
in these " Incidents of Travel I" I was clearly not m luck, 
but comforted myself with the possibility of a night assault 
upon the city, in anticipation of which Ben daily examined 
our armory, re-capped each formidable Colt, and had even 
prepared the proper timbers for barricading our house at a 



ALARMS AND 8USPSNSB. 166 

moment's notioe. I tried to work myself into a state of ex- 
citement, anxiety, and Suspense, but it was of no use ; we ate 
and drank inordinately, slept soundly, and altogether voted 
insurrections to be humbugs and bores. 

There was great anxiety for the arrival of the commander- 
in-chief of the forces of the State, General Mufioz, with rein- 
forcements, and we were amused for a week with rumors 
that he had just started from Leon with a thousand men, — 
was within two days' march, — ^and then that he had not 
started at all, that there was trouble in other departments, — 
in short, the city was in a fever, and full of reports ; to 
which, after a few days, we ceased to listen, or listened only 
to laugh at them. We almost concurred with the Sefiorita 
Teresa in the wish that Somoza or General Mufioz would 
come, — she didn't care much which; for in either case this 
chronic state of alarm would be terminated. Upon the 
whole, she would rather prefer that the General should 
arrive, for he was the most polished man in the country, and 
withal would bring his military band, and then there would 
be no end to the evening music in the plaza, and the " tertH- 
lias " and balls afterwards I 

Between baths in the lake at early dawn, delicious snoozes 
in hammocks at noon, rides on the beach in the evening, 
dinners, visits, and a general overhauling of books, papers, 
and baggage, time passed rapidly and pleasantly enough for 
a week. During that period, I had put our sick countryman 
in ftmds, and he had started from Los Cocos, at the head of 
the lake, in a bongo owned at San Juan, for that port, there 
to wait a vessel for the United States. He came one after- 
noon to bid us good-bye, and as I looked in his pale face, 
momentarily flushed with the excitement of starting for 
home and friends, and heard his low, weak voice, I could not 
help thinking that the poor fellow would never reach his 
native land, and little supposed then that I should ever see 
him or hear from him again. But what was our surprise 



166 NIOARAaUA — ^NARRATIVK. 

when, some five or six days thereafter, he came trotting into 
the court on a sorry mule, and in most woful plight His 
eyes were very large, and his whole appearance that of a 
man who bears important news. He did not wait to be 
questioned, but started oflF at once with " I've seen him, Fve 
seen Somoza !" His voice had all come back again. We 
got the whole of the story directly, told with a naivete and 
earnestness which in themselves, apart from the incidents, 
were convulsing. He had embarked in a small bongo, with 
a colored gentleman, his wife, and two children, as passen- 
gers, — catalogued in the recital as "an old nigger, a fet 
wench, and two naked picaninnies." The narrow chapa he 
had the satisfaction of sharing with these pleasant compan- 
ions ; but after one night's trial, he had arranged that he 
might occupy it alone in the afternoons, on condition that 
his fellow-passengers should have exclusive possession of it 
the rest of the time. The second night, therefore, he watched 
the stars and kicked his heels in the bow, and had only just 
commenced his afternoon's lease on the succeeding day, and 
began dreaming of home, when he was aroused by a great 
commotion and loud words. He found the sails all taken in, 
a boat full of armed men, with a swivel at the bow, along- 
side, and a number of others similarly manned close by. 
His colored companion was dumb, and of a dull ashy color, 
while the spouse, with a child in each arm, was prone and 
sobbing in the bottom of the boat. The crew were in a like 
plight, their teeth fairly chattering with alarm. Standing 
beside the mast was a tall, graceful man, with a feather in 
his hat, a red Spanish cloak hanging over one shoulder, a 
brace of naked pistols stuck in his belt, and a drawn sword 
in his hand, with its point resting on the rower's seat beside 
him, — ^who was questioning the trembling patron, with bent 
brow and eagle eyes, in a tone which our friend said would 
have drawn the truth from a stone. He comprehended at 
once that this was Somoza, and at first had a notion of taking 



AN INTBByiSW WITH SOMOZA. 167 

a shot at him, but thought better of it on the whole, and con- 
cluded to watch the turn of events, and so lay down again. 
The questioning was kept up for a very long time, as it 
appeared to him, while pretending to be asleep, but neverthe- 
less keeping a sharp lookout. When he had finished, 
Somoza gave some order to his men, and stepped towards 
the chopa. Our poor fiiend thought it all up with him, but 
the insurgent chief only stooped down and took his arm, ex- 
claiming, with a smile, in broken English, *^ How do, me 
amigo Americano?" Greatly relieved, our friend got up, 
whereupon Somoza dropped his sword, and throwing his 
arms around him, gave him an embrace^ la EspafLoh^ which 
made his back ache even now to think of. This was repeated 
several times, until the pain, overcoming all alarm, he cried 
in very agony, " No mas, sefior, no mas 1" No more, sir, no 
more ! But this infliction only terminated to give place to 
another ; for, taking both of our friend's hands in his own, 
with the gripe of a vice, he shook them until his arms were 
on the point of leaving his shoulders ; delivering, meantime, 
an energetic oration, perfectly unintelligible to his auditor, 
who could only ejaculate, in broken syllables, " Si, sefior 1 si, 
81, sefior 1 1" yes, sir 1 yes, yes sir I !" This finished, Somoza 
took a splendid ring from his finger, and insisted on placing 
it on the hand of our friend, who, however, looking upon it 
in the double light of stolen property and a bribe, sturdily 
refused to accept it. He gathered that Somoza was going to 
attack San Carlos, and thus get possession of the arms and 
ammunition stored there, and of which he stood in much 
need. Somoza parted from him with much kindness, and 
after giving some orders in a threatening tone to the patron, 
retired to his own boat ; whereupon the patron and his crew 
picked up their oars and pulled like mad, on the back track 
towards Granada. The last glimpse that was had of Somoza, 
he was standing in the stem of his boat, conspicuous amongst 



168 KICAKAGUA— KABBATIYB. 

his half-naked men, from his red cloak and danoing plume^ 
worn after the fashion of the mailed conquistadors. 

Somoza, we afterwards learned, affected great attachment 
to the Americans, and at an early stage of his operations, 
had sent a courier to our Consul, bearing a letter full of 
assurances of good feeling, and expressing his determination 
after "regulating the Government," of proceeding to San 
Juan to expel the English " ladrones." He was neverthe- 
less accused of being in the English interest, and acting 
directly or indirectly under British instigation. 

I have, in a preceding chapter, anticipated the result of 
Somoza's visit to San Carlos, in its capture and that of our &t 
friend the commandante. The capture was made without 
firing a gun, nor was it attended with excesses of any kind. 

With the information thus obtained of the whereabouts 
and destination of Somoza, the long-expected attack on the 
city receded in the distant perspective, and I resolved to pro- 
ceed at once to Leon, especially as I began to entertain sus- 
picions that the obstacles in the way had been magnified with 
a view of keeping us in Granada as pledges for its safety. 
That afternoon, however, a courier, which I had despatched 
to Leon, returned, bringing positive intelligence that General 
Mufioz was on the road, and at that moment at the large 
Indian town of Masaya, half a day's march distant, where he 
had arrested a number of persons implicated in the insurrec- 
tion, and, in virtue of extraordinary powers, conceded by 
Government, was engaged in trying them by the summary 
process of martial law. He brought advices from Mr. Consul 
Livingston, that a party of twenty-five volunteers from among 
the Californians stopping in Leon had been furnished with 
horses by tlie Government, and would set out in a day or 
two for Granada, to escort the Legation to the capital. He 
also brought a number of the Governmental decrees and pro- 
clamations, showing that the state authorities were taking the 



ACTIOir OF THS GOYBBNMENT. 169 

most efficient means in their power to put down the insur- 
gents and restore the peace of the State. Perhaps the mode 
of precedure cannot be better shown than by the following 
proclamations, decrees, and announcements, from the official 
bulletins, which will also serve to give an insight into the 
nature of the troubles which afflicted the State, and illustrate 
the style of composition, and the character of the appeals 
made use of by those in public station. The latter were 
of necessity adapted to touch the popular mind, and must 
therefore, give us some idea of its bent, the principles "which 
it regarded as most important to be sustained, and the dangers 
most essential to be arrested. I have already intimated that 
the existing troubles had their primary origin in the viru- 
lence of the parties which divided the State ; but that the 
proximate cause of the insurrection was the malefactor, So- 
moza, who had gathered a considerable number of reckless 
characters around him, and set all law at defiance. At first, 
and until overt acts were committed, such was the strength 
of party feeling, it is not impossible that the opposition to 
the Government was disposed to regard the movements of 
Somoza with indulgence, if not positive fevor. But when it 
became apparent that his blows were aimed at all order, and 
that his real objects were revenge and plunder, party distinc- 
tions were forgotten ; the opposition no longer looked upon 
his acts in the simple light of being embarrassing to the Gov- 
ernment, but as directed against themselves and the body 
politic, and, forgetting all their previous predilections, heart- 
ily seconded the measures which were adopted to restore the 
public peace. 

In one of the public papers of the time it was said : 

" In every republic, parties have always existed, and always will exist • 
It is right and necessary that they should, in order to act as checks one on 
the other, and thus protect the public welfare. Honestly differing in 
their views of certain measures of national policy, and in the decision o! 
which every citizen must feel the deepest interest^ we have long had, in 

22 



170 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVB. 

l^Hcaragua, two parties, bearing the somewhat eztraordinaiy names of 
' Tmlmcos' and ' CalandrtioasJ So far from regarding this circumstaooe 
as a thing to be deplored, the well-wishers of the State have witnessed 
it with satisfaction, as showing that the people at large comprehended 
the nature of republican institutions, and the necessity of deciding for 
themselves, upon whatever, of a public nature, might aflfect them or their 
interests. We have seen one of these parties, after a long struggle, in 
which arguments were substituted for bayonets, and ballots for bullets^ 
succeeding the other, and reforming the fundamental law of the State, 
lyhile the other, as in duty bound, yielded peaceably to the will of the 
majoritjy. The laborer pursued his avocations undisturbed while this 
peaceable revolution was going on ; the merchant continued his legiti- 
mate business ; no blood was spilled, no women widowed, or children 
rendered fatherless. 

" The monstrous faction which now threatens the State belongs to no 
party ; it is a Yandalic horde, aiming, by vile means, at unwarrantable 
ends, and directing its efforts against the Qovemment, not because of the 
policy of that Government, but because it is charged with the execution 
and vindication of the laws which this faction would annul and destroy I 
It is made up of enemies of order, of liberty, and of humanity. Let not 
former differences of opinion blind men to the real enormity of the insur- 
rection ; let no party favor this attempt to overturn not only the existing, 
btit all governments, and plant anarchy in the soil of peace. When the 
country is threatened, we are neither * Timbucos' nor * Calandracas,' but 
Nicaraguans. We cannot believe that this faction, which has no princi- 
ples, no policy, no moral incentives to action, and whose constant object 
is the destruction of society, can find sympathy or support, except amongst 
assassins and robbers." 

The first step taken by the Government, upon ascertaining 
the formidable character of the insurrection, is indicated 
below. 

OFFICIAL BULLETIN. 

Leon, Junk 19, 1SI9. 
• *• No man shall be molested or penecnted on aocoant of his opinions, of whateTer 
nature they may be, provided that he does not by any overt act infringe the laws." 
—Art. 90 of the CorutUution. 

" Every one has seen with horror the devastation which has followed 
in the steps of the barbarous Bernabe Somoza since his arrival in the 



ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 171 

town of St Gteorge, in the Department Meridional He burned and 
desolated its haciendas, and gave the city of ELvas to the flames, at the 
same time that, with the horde that follows him, he attacked the garrison 
of the line, and the various patriots assembled there, who, after having 
sustained a siege of eleven days, in the most heroic manner, were com- 
pelled to retreat ; — therefore, the Supreme Government, in discharge of 
the duties imposed upon it by humanity, religion, and the country, has 
issued the following extraordinary decrees: 

" God, Union, Liberty." 

Department op War; 
House op the Government, Leon, June 19, 1849. 
"Ibihe Oeneral'-m- Chiefs Commanding the Regular Ibrces of ihe State : 

^' Sir : The Supreme Executive Power has ordered me to communicate 
to you the following decrees for execution : BUITRAGK)." 

Nal. 

" It having become necessary to the well-being of the State to put an 
end to the anarchical movements which threaten with destruction the 
persons and properties of the Departments Oriental and Meridional, and 
which now disturb the general peace, therefore, in view of this peremptory 
exigency, and in order to save the liberty of the people, and to put the 
State in a position to defend its independence and integrity, now placed 
in extreme danger by the refusal of the British Government to listen to 
our claims of redress against the usurpation of the most precious part of 
our territories, in conformity with Art 48, Sec. 9, of the Constitution, it 
has been and is 

DECREED: 

^ AsT. 1. All citizens of Nicaragua, from the ages of sixteen to fifty yearS) 
are required by the fundamental law to take up arms in support of the 
public order and territorial integrity of the State, excepting only the 
clergy, ana those who, by some physical defect, are absolutely incapaci- 
tated for military service. 

" Art. 2. They are therefore required to present themselves for enrolment, 
with their equipments, and all horses and mules which they may pos- 
sess, before the chief of the forces of the line in this city, or before the 
legionary commanders in the departments. 

** Art. 3. Tlie horses and mules as aforesaid of those who do not present 
themselves, are liable to be seized by detachments of troops sent out for 



172 NICABAGUA— NABBATXYB. 

that purpose, and the owners will incur the penalty, in case they are 
lost, of being excluded from recovering their value, as provided by Art 
173, Sea 1, of the Constitution, besides being themselves subject to 
the penalties prescribed by Art 104 of the penal code. 
" Art. 4. The forces which may be enrolled shall hold themselves in 
readiness to move whenever and wherever required. 
'* Given in Leon this 19th of June, 1849. 

"NORBERTO RAMIREZ." 

No. 2. 

"To save the State from anarchy, and to enable it to defend its terri- 
torial integrity, in compliance with duty, and in use of constitutional 
power, it is 

DECREED: 

Art. 1. That the General in Chief, Don Jose Trinidad Munoi^ is 
fully authorized to put an end to the existing insurrection, and to restore 
complete order, as also to place the State in an attitude to defend its 
territorial integrity ; his orders are therefore to be punctually executed 
by the legionary commanders, and exactly complied with by the com- 
missaries) not only for ordinary but extraordinary expenses. 

Given in Leon, this 19th of June, 1849. 

NORBERTO RAMIREZL 

Decrees were also issued for the 'collection of an extraordi- 
nary tax, and requiring persons entering the various towns 
to procure passports. The proclamation of the Supreme Di- 
rector, Ramirez, was a well written appeal to the patriotism 
of the people, concluding as follows : 

'^ No good object can be attained by disturbing the public peace, and 
the misguided men who have joined in these lawless movements forget 
that their interests are identical with those of all other citizens ; forget 
that their conduct must destroy every social and civil privilege, and 
plunge society into its savage, chaotic state, when might shall subvert 
right ; and when life, liberty, nor possessions are secure. Hatred begets 
hatred, and vengeance, vengeance ; and they who strike against the 
wholesome restraints of law, will themselves be stricken down in its fall 

*' People of Nicaragua, by your choice I have been placed in a {>osition 
where my authority is individually greater than yours; but your blood 



AFBXiXS OF THE GOYSBNMENT. 178 

has as much value as mine ; my interests are yours, and those of the 
nation. Let me then, both as a magistrate and a citizen, conjure you, in 
the name of humanity, by our hopes of future prosperity, and on behalf 
of our country, to rally to the support of the constitution and the laws, 
and thus confound our enemies, and realize the blessings which ahidl 
flow from peace and the maintenance of public order." 

The address of the General in Chief of the State to his 
soldiers, furnishes a veiy favorable example of the style of 
such documents in Central America; and its introduction 
will, in this respect at least, prove interesting. 

'^ Soldiers I 

'^ The honored standard of order, which you have hitherto so gloriously 
sustained, is again attacked. Forty intrepid men of your number covered 
themselves with glory, in maintaining the city of Rivas against overwhelming 
numbers ; yielding only with their lives the trust confided to their care. 
Since their lamented fall, over which a bereaved country is still weeping, 
there has been no check on the wanton atrocities of the robbers and 
Vandals who overcame them. The devastation which moves with the 
insurgents will extend all over the State, if not opposed by the honor. 
Valor, and patriotism you have so conspicuously exhibited in other days. 
What will become of our beautiful country, companions in arms, if this 
turbulence, which finds its food in blood and ashes, does not encounter, 
in its savage progress, the invincible obstacle of your courage ? 

" You are called upon to guard the supreme powers of the State, as 
you have sworn to do at the foot of your flag. Your loyalty and heroism 
have been and are still the shield of the country, not less than the terror of 
those who compass its destruction and your enslavement. The soul of the 
hero of Rivas, the valiant Martinez, will glory in your triumph over the 
enemies of the country for which he died I 

" Fellow CmzENS, Friends of Society I 

** Social order is attacked ; the lava of sanguinary destruction threatens 
to overflow our dearest interests. The assassin of the honored Venerio, 
and of the innocent Solorio, the destroyer of the pacific Rivas, and the 
hated cause of innumerable other misfortunes, has seduced a portion of 
the unreflecting people of the department Meridional firom their allegiance, 
and is leading them into the direst iniquities, while, like another Nero, 
he revels above the ruins of the capitol of that unfortunate department 
But if your valor and patriotism unite to support the cause of order, they 



174 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVB. 

wiU interpose an efficient obstacle to the dangers wMch threaten ub, and 
turn back in confusion the enemies of the State. 

" The supreme government^ the centre of order, has invested me with 
the largest authority to act for its support; and with your effective aid, I 
go with my soldiers to fulfill the duties with which I am charged. The 
country asks, if it need be, the lives of her sons ; our vnves, mothers, and 
children look to you in this emergency for the security of their liberty and 
lives! 

JOSE TRINIDAD MUNOZ. 

" Head-quabters, June 21, 1849." 

The subjoined is also a specimen of the announcements 
and appeals made by the editors of the official Bulletin, with 
the view to rouse the patriotism of the people, and concen- 
trate their indignation against the insurgents. 

" We denounced before the people, in a previous number, the incendi- 
arism, pillage, and bloodshed, with which that most ferocious barbarian, 
(antropo/ago^) Bernabe Somoza, had desolated the department Meridional; 
but those crimes were as nothing in comparison with the most unheard-of 
outrages and unparalleled barbarisms which he has more recently com- 
mitted in that important section of the State. He has spared neither age 
nor sex, not even the unresisting wounded, nor the corpses of the dead; 
and with impious hand has seized upon the sacred vessels in the temple 
of the God of Justice, who, penetrating at a single glance the hearts of 
men, and always as just as inexorable in the end, will as assuredly save 
the virtuous, as he will, with his terrible lightnings, strike down the 
wicked and the criminal. In evidence of the new and almost incredible 
horrors which have filled up tlie cup of sorrow, for all those who possess 
souls and human sympathies, we publish the following account-, communi- 
cated by Don Trinidad Salazar, commandant in the department Oriental, 
to the General-in-chief : 

" ' I have positive news from Rivas, that Somoza is still in that city, 
perpetrating every excess. He has shot ^all the wounded ; robbed even 
the sacred vessels in the churches, and is on the eve of entirely burning 
the city. He has disinterred the body of Lieut CoL Martinez, and dragged 
it naked through the streets. In short, these are but few examples of 
the thousand horrible acts committed by this barbarous man. Within 
an hour has died in this city, from the effects of his wounds, our friend, 
the brave Capt Santos Ramirez, notwithstanding every means were ex- 



AFPSALS TO THE PEOPLE. 176 

haosted to save him; and it only remains for me to pay his remains 
their last sad honors.' 

''How terrible to the imagination, how disgraceful to humanity, are 
deeds like these, committed on the spot consecrated by the blood of the 
hero and Christian, the honored Don Manuel Antonio de la Gerda, first 
chief of Nicaragua, whose sacred corpse was also thus outraged in those 
days of barbarism which have been looked back to with horror, but 
which bear no parallel to those now passing in that unfortunate depart- 
ment 

" But those noble soldiers, the brave Martinez and Ramirez, shall re- 
ceive the rites of sepulchre in our hearts. There we will engrave deep 
their memories. Their conduct shall be forever an example to our soldiers, 
to the friends of humanity, and the admirers of true honor. Our breasts 
shall be the temples where they shall receive the tribute of our gratitude, 
and immortal glory. Gk)d's justice and the sword of the violated laws 
have gone forth to avenge their blood I" 

Having received these documents and the information 
accompanjring them, I relinquished the idea of an immediate 
departure, fCnd determined to wait for the arrival of the Cal- 
ifornian escort. The news of the General's approach created 
great joy ; and the bells were rung and guns fired in token 
of satisfaction. He was expected to arrive the next day ; 
and that evening a "banda" was published, requiring the 
houses on the principal streets and on the plaza to be deco- 
rated, and everything put in order to receive him. The pub- 
lication of the "banda" was a novelty to us. It was done 
in this wise : a party of soldiers, preceded by a drum and 
fife, and a municipal officer, marched through all the princi- 
pal streets, stopping at each corner, when the music ceased, 
and the officer took off his hat and read the proclamation 
aloud, while the people thrust out their heads and listened. 
We laughed at first at this new mode of publishing the laws, 
but in the end came to regard it as not a bad idea. 

That evening, there being no longer fear of the "facciosos," 
we had no difficulty in making up a large riding party for the 
Laguna de Salinas, distant about four miles from the city, 
which was represented to us as being lower than lake Nica- 



176 NICABAQUA— NARRATIVE. 

ragua, salt, and shut in by perpendicular rocks. We fol- 
lowed the "camino real," in the direction of Leon, for a 
short distance, and then turned off on a narrow mule path, 
amongst the trees and bushes. It was very evident that the 
"caballeros" who accompanied us were determined to show 
us a specimen of their horsemanship, and rode at breakneck 
pace, keeping a bright lookout for the trunks and branches 
of the trees, now bending to their horses' necks to escape the 
latter, and now throwing their feet dextrously out of the 
stirrups, to avoid hitting the former. Thanks to early 
habits of life, this was no very severe trial to me, and I kept 
even pace with the rest, to their evident surprise, and the 
strengthening of their conviction that the Yankees were 
"up" to everything. We passed, here and there, a cane 
hut, surrounded by plantain trees, corn-fields, and patches of 
yucas, over ridges of volcanic scoria), covered only with grass, 
down into ravines with a scramble, and out again with a 
leap, and in half an hour came to the brink of the lake. I 
dismounted, and pushed through the trees and bushes to the 
edge of the precipice, and saw, far down, hundreds of feet 
below mc, the glistening waters of the lake, surrounded on 
all sides by the same bare, blistered, black walls, with a rim 
of verdure skirting the water's edge. Mounting again, we 
rode a little further, to the sole place of descent, in part 
natural, but chiefly artificial. A narrow path, half-cut, half- 
worn, in the rock, wound down before us, something after 
the manner of the winding stairways in monumentail columns, 
only not so wide. The horses picked their way cautiously, 
avoiding the loose stones, while the rider had enough to do 
to prevent his legs from being jammed against the wall of 
rock on cither hand. A man had previously been sent 
ahead, to see that the way was clear, for there is no turning 
around in this narrow passage, which no doubt owes its origin 
to the aborigines, and is hardly wide enough to admit the 
passage of a horse. This cut passed, we came to a place 



LAGUNA DE SALINAS. 177 

where tlie fallen debris and rocks made a kind of shelf or 
terrace. Here we left our horses, the declivity below being 
very steep, and the rocks slippery withal, and proceeded on 
foot, — ^leaping from one stone to the other, and catching at 
bushes and saplings to check our descent. We soon came to 
the shore of the lake, where, beyond a line or belt of bushes, 
was a narrow beach of fine sand. The water was very clear 
and limpid, but had a sulphury or yellowish green color 
where it was deeper, a little distance from the shore. It was 
slightly salt to the taste, from the minerals held in solution. 
"We observed some small fishes, and were told that there 
were alligators, but how they got here was a mystery ; as I 
have already said, the lake is surrounded by absolutely pre- 
cipitous walls of rock, several hundred feet in height, with 
no practicable descent for man or beast, except at this point. 
It was evident enough that the lake was of volcanic origin ; 
but in what way formed, was not so clear. The black and 
frowning rocks seemed to irtiply that it was an ancient crater; 
but this conclusion was somewhat shaken by the fact that, 
from the plain, upon the western side of the lake, rose a con- 
ical hill, or small mountain, which had been a volcano, and 
exhibited a crater. Had the earth sunk suddenly here, dur- 
ing some terrible convulsion of nature ? " Quien sabe ?" We 
afterwards foimd numerous other lakes, equally extraordin- 
ary, and some of considerably larger size. This one, called 
in the aboriginal language, Lendiri, was, I should think, 
about three miles in circumference.* The trees grew to the 
very edge of the precipice, and vines and creepers hung in 
wavdng festoons down its rugged sides; altogether form- 
ing an impressive picture. Our appreciation of it was not a 

' Oviedo (1529) says of this lake, " In the province of Diria is another 
lake, the water of which is salt, like that of the sea ; and the flavor of the 
fish, which it produces in abundance, is far superior to that of the other 
fresh water lakes of which I have spoken. It is about a leagae and a hal^ 
or two leagues, from Q-ranada, or Salteba." 

23 



178 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVE. 

little enhanced by the feeling, half of curiosity and half of 
awe, which every one must experience upon witnessing, for 
the first time, the terrible effects of volcanic forces, and 
which no familiarity ever materially weakens. 

We were hot, weary, and thirsty, when we had clambered 
again to where our horses were &stened, and emptied a flask 
of " agua ardiente" and water, with which one of the party 
had considerately supplied himself in much less time than it 
takes me to make the confession, and with a satisfaction 
which I shall not attempt to describe. We returned leisurely, 
for the shades of evening were felling, and the narrow path 
was much obscured by the trees. It was late when we 
reached the city, which had now recovered from the chilling 
influences of impending danger, and was gay and cheerfuL 
The streets were thronged with noisy children, and the 
sefioras and sefioritas were all seated in the doorways or in 
the balconied windows, in quiet enjoyment of the cool even- 
ing breeze, which swung the lamps, suspended in firont of 
each house, slowly to and fro. There seemed to be a sense 
of the luxury of mere existence among the inhabitants, which 
the traveller looks for in vain except under the tropics, and 
which there appears to be in perfect harmony with nature. 

We had scarcely entered the main street, when my com- 
panions suddenly stopped short, and taking off their hats, 
turned back again. Without comprehending fully the 
reason, I did the same. The next moment, however, I heard 
the tinkling of a bell, and looking around the corner, 
saw a procession of persons with uncovered heads, each 
bearing a light, preceded by a boy ringing a bell, who was 
followed by some men playing on violins, and a guard of 
soldiers surrounding four persons who supported, with silver 
rods, a crimson silken canopy, over a priest dressed in his 
robes, arid carrying the host. The children fled to the sides 
of the street and fell on their knees, as did also all the inhab- 
itants, upon the approach of the procession, which was pro- 



BELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 179 

oeeding to the house of some one dangerously ill, or dying. 
We stood in the cross street, with uncovered heads, as it 
passed by. It was only a few years before that a party of 
foreigners had been torn from their horses and otherwise 
maltreated, because they did not dismount and kneel on an 
occasion like this. The people, however, had now become 
comparatively enlightened and liberal, and exacted nothing 
beyond a decent respect for their religious notions and cere- 
monies. It looked rather strangely to see a file of soldiers, 
with glancing bayonets, surrounding a priest bent on such a 
mission ; but either to insure proper respect, or to show it, 
the guard is never omitted, if men and muskets are, by any 
possibility, to be found. Sometimes the priest rides in a 
lambering carriage, or is carried in a litter or chair, on men's 
shoulders. 

That night, until eight o'clock there was a firing of "bom- 
bas" in the plaza, and general demonstrations of satisfaction 
everywhere, to say nothing of great preparations for the 
morrow, the day announced for the arrival of General Mufioz 
and his veteranos. Preceding that event, and the recital of 
what followed, it will not be uninteresting to turn for a 
moment to the early history of Granada, which was a city 
grown, long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and be- 
fore Hudson entered the bay of New York. 



CHAPTER VI. 

OlBCOTERT OF KIOARAOUA IN 1522 ; OIL GONZALES DE AVILA, AND HIS MARCH 
DTTO THE COUNTRT ; LANDS AT NICOTA ) REACHES NICARAGUA AND HAS AN 
DTTERTIEW WITH ITS OAZIQUE ; IS CL08ELT QUESTIONED ; MARCHES TO DIRI- 
A56A, WHERE HE IS AT FIRST RECEIVED, BUT AFTERWARDS ATTACKED AND 
FORCED TO retreat; PECULIARITIES OF THE ABORIGINES; THEIR WEALTH; 
ARRITAL OF FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA ; HE SUBDUES THE COUNTRT, 
AND FOUNDS THE CITIES OF GRANADA AND LEON; RETURN OF GONZALES; 
QUARRELS BETWEEN THE CONQUERORS; PEDRO ARIAS DE AVILA THE FIRST 
GOVERNOR OF NICARAGUA ; HIS DEATH ; IS SUCCEEDED BY RODERIGO DE CON- 
TRERAS ; HIS SON, HERNANDEZ DE CONTRERAS, REBELS AGAINST SPAIN ; MEDI- 
TATES THE ENTIRE INDEPENDENCE OF ALL SPANISH AMERICA ON THE PACIFIC ; 
SUCCEEDS IN OARRTING NICARAGUA; SAILS FOR PANAMA; CAPTURES IT; 
MARCHES ON NOMBRE DE DIGS, BUT DIES ON THE WAT ; FAILURE OF HIS DARING 
AND GIGANTIC PROJECT ; SUBSEQEUNT INCORPORATION OF NICARAGUA IN THE 
TICE-ROTALTT OF GUATEMALA. — THE CITT OF GRANADA IN 1665, BY THOMAS 
OAOI, AN ENGLISH MONK; NICARAGUA CALLED '^ MAHOMET's PARADISE;" THE 
IMPORTANCE OF GRANADA AT THAT PERIOD; SUBSEQUENT ATTACK BY THE 
PIRATES IN 1668 ; IS BURNT ; THEIR ACCOUNT OF IT ; THE SITE OF GRANADA ; 
EUGIBILITY OF ITS POSITION; POPULATION; COMMERCE; FOREIGN MERCHANTS; 
PROSPECTIVE IMPORTANCE. — LAKE NICARAGUA ; ITS DISCOVERT AND EXPLORA- 
TION ; INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF IT BY THE CHRONICLER OVIEDO, WRITTEN IN 
1541 ; ITS OUTLET DISCOVERED BY CAPTAIN DIEGO MACHUCA ; THE WILD 
BEASTS ON ITS SHORES ; THE LAOUNA OF SONOOZANA ; SHARKS IN THE LAKE, 
THEIR RAPACITY ; SUPPOSED TIDES IN THE LAKE; EXPLANATION OF THE PHE- 
NOMENON. 

The first Spaniard who penetrated into Nicaragua, was 
Gil Gonzales de Avila, in tlie year 1522. He sailed from 
Panama, and landed somewhere upon the shore of the Gulf 
of Nicoya, probably in the southern department of Nicaragua, 
now bearing the name of Nicoya, or Guanacaste. With four 
horses and a hundred followers, he advanced to tlie north- 



182 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

ward over land, meeting in his progress with several petty 
chiefe, and finally came to the territories of a powerM 
cazique called Nicoya^ who, says Peter Martyr, " courteously 
entertained him, and gave him fourteen thousand pieces of 
eight in gold thirteen carats fine, and six idols of the same 
metal, each a span long," in return for which, adds Heirara, 
Gonzales " gave him some Spanish toys, and baptized him 
and all his subjects, being six thousand in number." 

Here Gonzales heard of a powerful chief named Nicaragua^ 
and proceeding fifty leagues to the northward, arrived in his 
territories, which were between the lake of Nicaragua and 
the sea, comprising the district of which the city of Nicara- 
gua or Eivas is now the capital, and which occupies the site 
of the aboriginal town. To this chief, Peter Martyr tells us, 
De Avila sent the same message which " our men were wont 
to deliver to the rest of the Indian kings, before they would 
press them, that is to say, that they should become Chris- 
tians, and admit their subjection to the King of Spain, if 
they did not which, then war and violence would be used 
against them." But Nicaragua, it appears, had heard of the 
*• sharpness of the Spanish swords," and received Gonzales 
courteously and with great state, presenting him with 
** twenty-five thousand pieces of eight in gold, many gar- 
ments, and plumes of feathers." Gonzales prevailed upon 
him to be baptized, as he accordingly was, with nine thou- 
sand of his subjects. Their sole objection to the rite was the 
prohibition of making war, and " of dancing when they were 
drunk," alleging that " they did nobody harm thereby, and 
that they could not quit their colors, weapons, and plumes 
of feathers, and let the women go to war, whilst they applied 
themselves to spin, weave, and dig, which belonged to the 
females and slaves." Nicaragua asked many shrewd ques- 
tions of the Spaniards, one of which was, "why so few men 
coveted so much gold ?" " Gonzales being a discreet man," 



CONVERTING A CJOUNTBY, 188 

observes Heirara, ''gave such answers as satisfied him," 
although they have not been preserved.* 

After much persuasion Nicaragua consented that "the 
idols which he worshipped should be cast down, and a cross 
set up in the temple, which was hung with fine cotton cloths; 
and thus the country was converted !" 

From the territories of this chief, Gonzales, being every- 
where kindly received, penetrated the country in various 
directions, and saw many towns, which, says Herrara, 
" though not large, were good and populous ;' and multi- 
tudes flocked along the ways to see the Spanish beards, and 
habits, and their horses, which were so strange to them." 
While thus engaged, he encountered a warlike cazique, called 
Diriangan^ a name that is perpetuated in that of the existing 
towns of Diriamhi^ Diriomo^ and Nindiri^ situated about fifty 
miles to the north-westward of Nicaragua. This chief was 
attended by five hundred men, with seventeen women, who 
wore many gold plates. They were drawn up in order, but 

* Old Peter Martyr gives quite a minute account of the interview be- 
tween Qonzales and Nicaragua, calculated to give a very high opinion of 
the shrewdness of the latter. He inquired about a flood, and how the 
Spaniards got their information on religious matters from heaven, who 
brought it, and whether he came down on a rainbow or otherwise; about 
"the sun, and moon, and stars, and of their motion, quality, distance, 
and effects I" All these things were noted down on the spot, by Cerezeda, 
the king's treasurer, who also affirms that Nicaragua was curious about 
the cause of day and night, and the blowing of the winds, " which Gonza- 
les answered to the best of his ability, commending the rest to God." 
Gonzales had a long argument with him to prove that his idols were rep- 
resentatives of devils, and warned him in a style not yet wholly obsolete, 
to avoid them, " lest he should be violently carried away by them from 
eternal delights to perpetual torments and miserable woes, and be made 
the companion of the damned." To all of these things the Indians did 
not offer particular objection, but when they came to talk about temporal 
afifiurs, " they made a wry mouth." 

« Peter Martyr says that he found " six villages, every one of which had 
two thousand houses a-piece." — " Dt Novo Orbe" Decade vL p. 237. 



184 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVE. 

without arms, '^ with ten colors, and trumpets after their 
fiahion." When Gonzales came near, the colors were spread, 
and the cazique touched his hand, as did also each of his fol- 
lowers ; every man presenting him, at the same time, with 
one or two turkeys, and each woman with " twenty golden 
plates, fourteen carats fine, each weighing eighteen pieces of 
eight, and upwards." 

Gronzales endeavored to persuade Diriangan to become a 
Christian; but the chief demanded three days to consult upon 
the subject " with his women and priests." The Spaniards 
soon suspected that this was a ruse, and that it was his design 
to gather forces to attack and destroy them. In this they 
were not mistaken, for on the 17th of April, 1622, a body of 
several thousand Indians, " armed after their manner with 
cotton armor, head pieces, targets, wooden swords, bows, 
arrows, and darts, fell upon the Spaniards," and had it not 
been for the timely notice of a confederate Indian, would in- 
evitably have destroyed them. The strangers returned to 
the market place, and received the onset of the Indians there. 
Several of the Spaniards were knocked down ; for it seems 
that here, as in Mexico, it was rather the desire of the na- 
tives to capture than kill their enemies, in order to offer the 
prisoners as sacrifices to their gods. The Spanish horse, in 
this, as in a thousand other instances, saved them from defeat, 
driving back the Indians in great terror.' Gonzales, consid- 
ering the smallness of his force, resolved, upon this event, to 
retire from the country. In passing the town of their former 
entertainer, Nicaragua, they were however attacked, but 
nevertheless succeeded in making good their retreat. " The 

^ Peter Martyr tells us that the Indians were not less afraid of men with 
beards than of the horses, and that therefore, to produce the greatest pos- 
sible effect, Gonzales made artificial beards '* from the powlinges of their 
heads, for twenty-five beardless youths which he had with hira, to the end 
that the number of bearded men might appear the more, and be the more 
terrible to the barbarians." — " De Novo Orhe,'' Decade vi. p. 240. 



REVOLT OF HEBNANDEZ DE C0NTRERA8 185 

Spaniards," adds Herrara, " gave a mighty account of the 
country upon their return to Panama; for which reason 
Pedro de Arias, resolved to found a colony there." He 
accordingly soon after despatched Francisco Hernandez de 
Cordova, who, in 1522, founded the city of Granada upon 
the Lake of Nicaragua, and subsequently, in the same year, 
the city of Leon, upon the Lake of Leon, or Managua. Cor- 
dova erected a fort at Granada for its protection, but it is 
hardly to be supposed that the ruined works on the shore of 
die Jake are the remains of this structure. 

Gonzales, who had gone to Spain soon after his discovery, 
to procure the means of conquering and settling the country, 
Aiding himself anticipated by Cordova, raised a force and 
en-;ering Honduras by the valley of Olancho, from the Bay 
of Honduras, marched upon the towns established by the 
latter. The consequences were many battles, and much dis- 
turbince and turmoil, exceeding anything which had pre- 
viously resulted from the jealousies and rivalries of the 
conquerors, in America. Very little regard was paid to the 
mother country or its directions ; in fact, after the death of 
Pedro Arias de Avila, who was the first governor of the 
country, Eodrigo de Contreras, his son-in-law, who succeeded 
him, openly disregarded the order of the crown, which pro- 
hibited its officers from holding the Indians as property. 
For this charges were preferred against him, and he went to 
Spain to vindicate himself in the " Audiencia Keal." In his 
absence, his son, Hernandez de Contreras, resenting his 
Other's treatment, openly revolted. Their first victim was 
Antonio de Valdivieso, the bishop of Nicaragua, whose por- 
trait is still preserved in the great cathedral at Leon. The 
insurgents were successful in gaining complete possession of 
the country ; but not satisfied with this, they seized some 
vessels in the port of Eealejo, and embarked for Panama, 
with a view of extending their conquests in that direction, 
and ultimately of seizing upon Peru. Hernandez, in short, 

24 



186 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

conceiv^ed the idea of becoming king of the continent, and 
ruler of the South Sea. He attacked and captured Panama ; 
but on his way to reduce Nombre de Dios, encountered mis- 
fortunes which ended in his death. Thus terminated this 
bold and magnificent design ; the magnitude of which ap- 
palled the King of Spain, and which, at one moment, seemed 
on the eve of a successful consummation. The anniversary 
of Hernandez's death, on the 28d of April, 1549, was cele- 
brated with great solemnity in the Cathedral of PanamSi 
until the period of the independence from Spain. 

It is not necessary, nor would it be particulariy interest- 
ing, to trace the early history of Nicaragua further. In due 
time, it was organized as a province in the Kingdom or Cap- 
tain Generalcy of Guatemala, and governed by a Governor 
Intendant, appointed by the crown, but subject to the Cap- 
tain General of Guatemala, and so remained until its eman- 
cipation in 1823. At that time Granada was among the first 
cities to declare in favor of republicanism, and has always, in 
the partisan struggles which have followed, been on the lib- 
eral side, as opposed to the servile, oligarchical, or monarchi- 
cal faction, whose machinations have kept the country in a 
state of constant alarm, and which is still the enemy of its 
peace. 

Thomas Gage, an English monk, who went throuu^h Nica- 
ragua in 1665, has left ils a brief but interesting account of 
the country, which he calls " Mahomet's Paradise, from its 
exceeding goodness." At that time there were in the city 
of Granada two cloisters of Mercenarian and Franciscan friars, 
and " one parish church, which was a cathedral, for the 
Bishop of Leon did almost constantly reside there." The 
houses, he says, were fairer than those of Leon, and the mer- 
ohants enjoyed great wealth. They carried on trade directly 
with Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador, as also with 
Panama, Carthagena, and Peru. At the time of sending 
away their vessels, (" frigats," as Gage calls them,) the city 



HISTORY OF GRAKADA. 187 

▼as one of the richest in all North America. The king's 
treasure from Guatemala and Mexico was often sent this way, 
▼hen the Hollanders and other enemies infested the Gulf of 
Mexico. Gage tells us that while he was there, "in one day 
there entered six Requas^ (which were each at least three 
hundred mules,) from San Salvador and Honduras alone, 
laden with indigo, cochineal, and hides ; and two days after 
from Guatemala came in three more, one laden with silver, 
(▼hich was the king's tribute,) another with sugar, and the 
other with indigo."* Respecting the "frigats" of which 
Gage speaks, we shall have more to say elsewhere. They 
generally sailed for Carthagena, but sometimes directly for 
Spain. They were occasionally intercepted by English and 
Dutch vessels cruising around the mouth of " El Desagua- 
dero," or the San Juan, and the fear of this, observes the 
quaint old traveller, " did make the merchants tremble and 
sweat with a cold sweat." 

Granada, in common with all the Spanish cities on the 
Pacific declivity of the continent, suffered much, at a later 
period, from the pirates. In 1686 it was attacked by a party 
from the combined French and English bucaneers then in 
the South Sea, and sacked. They landed on the seventh of 
April in that year, on the coast of the Pacific, in number 
three hundred and forty-five men. They travelled only at 
night, with a view of surprising the town. De Lussan, who 
was of the party, records the adventure. He says that on 
the ninth of the month, two days after their departure from 
the coast, the fatigue which they had undergone, and the 
sharp hunger which pressed them, obliged them to halt at a 
great sugar plantation, about four leagues from Granada, and 
on the way thither. It belonged to a Knight of St. James, 
who, however, escaped being taken prisoner, for the excel- 
lent reason assigned by the chronicler, viz. : " our leggs at 

» "A New Survey of the West Indies," p. 421. 



188 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

that time being much more disposed to rest than run after 
him." Upon coming near to the town, they discovered that 
their approach was known, and saw what De Lussan calls 
"two ships upon Lake Nicaragua," laden with the effects of 
the retreating inhabitants. They now proceeded with more 
caution, and upon capturing a prisoner found out that a por- 
tion of the inhabitants remained, and had entrenched them- 
selves in the Place of Arms, or Plaza, which was guarded with 
fourteen pieces of cannon, and " six petereroes." This informa- 
tion, continues the worthy De Lussan, " would doubtless have 
terrified any but freebooters, but did not retard our design 
one minute, nor hinder us. About two in the afternoon of 
the same day, we came up to the town, where at one entrance 
into the suburbs we met a strong party lying in ambush for 
us, whom, after an hour^s engagement, we fell with that fury 
on, that we made our way over all their bellies, with the loss 
of but one man on our side, and from thence entered the 
town, where we made a halt to wait for the answer of seve- 
ral of our company, whom we had detached to go round and 
take observation of a fort which we saw in a direct line with 
the street by which we entered.'' The reconnoitering over, 
and the plan of attack laid out with all military precision, 
the freebooters " exhorted each other to fall on bravely, and 
advanced at a good round pace to the attack." When they 
had got within cannon shot of the works, they were fired on, 
but at every discharge the pirates *' saluted them down to 
the ground, by which means the shot went harmlessly over." 
This excellent practical joke the Spaniards met by false 
priming, "to the end that the pirates might raise their bodies 
after the sham was over," and then receive the real discharge. 
The pirates then broke into the houses and made their ap- 
proaches through the walLs, from one to the other; and 
finally came sufficiently near to use their fire-arms and hand 
grenades, and being superior in numbers, and withal well 
used to hard fighting, they soon succeeded in making them- 



HISTORY OF GRANADA. 189 

selves masters of the work. Upon the side of the pirates 
four men were killed and eight wounded, which, De Lussan 
complacently observes, "was in truth very cheap." They 
then went to the great church and piously sang the Te Deum^ 
fixed their sentinels, and the Court of Guard, (which was 
probably some kind of commission to take charge of the 
plunder,) in the strong-built houses," and afterwards went 
out to gather in the booty. But their victory was a barren 
one, for they only found " a few goods and some provisions." 

Much disappointed, they sent out parties to collect the 
treasures which they conceived might be hidden on the 
estates outside of the city, but with no better success, for 
they came back, as De Lussan classically observes, " re infeo 
tar They then caught a woman, whom they sent to the 
Spaniards with a demand for a ransom for the town, and a 
threat of burning the same in case their requisition was not 
complied with. The inhabitants were not so easily fright- 
ened, and did not trouble themselves to give an answer, 
whereupon the pirates " set fire to the houses out of mere 
spite and revenge." 

While here, the pirates, wearied of their laborious and 
perilous life, indulged hopes of returning, through Lake Nica- 
ragua, to Europe. But, in their own words, " the term of 
dangers and miseries which their destiny had in store for 
them was not yet come, and they could not take advantage 
of the fiivorable opportunity which now offered to get out of 
these parts of the world, which, though very charming and 
agreeable to those who were settled there, yet did not appear 
so to a handful of men, without shipping, the most part of 
the time without victuals, and wandering amidst a multitude 
of enemies, against whom they were obliged to be continu- 
ally on their guard." So they fell back, with infinite trouble 
and danger, to the coast, being obliged to contest every foot 
of the ground. They embarked again and sailed for Realejo, 
which they captured, and subsequently took Pueblo Viejo 



190 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVB. 

and Chinendaga, and even made a descent on Leon. These 
same men, after further exploits on the coast, made a forced 
march across the continent, from the Gulf of Fonseca to Cape 
Gracios a Dios, through the northern department of Nicara- 
gua (Segovia) and Honduras, 

De Lussan describes the city of Granada, at the time of his 
visit, as a large and spacious town, with " stately churches 
and houses, well enough built, besides several religious estab- 
lishments, both for men and women." Around the city 
" were a great many fine sugar plantations, which were more 
like unto so many villages than single plantations." 

The site of Granada is admirably chosen. It occupies a 
gentle slope, descending towards the lake, which here forms a 
beautiful and partially protected bay, called the bay of 
Granada. Upon one side rises the great volcano of Momo- 
bacho, while behind are the undulating hills and ridges of 
land which intervene between the lake and the Pacific. The 
position is, in fiict, the only eligible one on the western shore 
of the lake, near its head, where any considerable town could be 
built, due regard being had to space, salubrity, and convenience 
for trade. And while Leon, from the circumstances that it was 
almost immediately established as the seat of government, 
and was built in a more fertile and populous district, has 
preserved a larger population and a greater number of im- 
posing public edifices, Granada has always held a higher 
place in respect of trade. Through it, from the earliest 
period, has been conducted the principal part of the com- 
merce of the country, besides a portion of that of the adjacent 
provinces and States. It has not sufiered so much from vio- 
lence as the political capital ; and although subject to the 
san\e influences which have depressed the country at large, it 
has felt them less. Wealth has, in consequence, concentrated 
here to a considerable extent, and its commercial relations 
have led to the introduction of many foreign customs, with- 
out, however, materially changing its essential Central 



COMMJSBCE OF QRANADA. 191 

American type. More foreigners havej from time to timei 
established themselves here, than in all the rest of the State. 
Some of them, after accumulating large fortimes, have re- 
turned to their native lands, while others, from habit or incli- 
nation, have remained, and almost entirely assimilated them- 
selves to the native population. 

The population of Granada is now estimated at from 
twelve to fifteen thousand inhabitants. This estimate may, 
however, be considerably wide of the truth. When Juarros 
wrote, the population was calculated to be 863 Europeans, 
Spaniards and Creoles; 910 Mestizos; 4,765 Ladinos; and 
1,695 Indians. Total, 8,233, 

No means exist whereby its trade can be accurately esti- 
mated. With the exception of some direct trade with the 
city of Bivas or Nicaragua, situated on the lake forty-five 
miles below Gra;aada, the entire commerce with San Juan 
is conducted through this city. Here are owned nearly all 
the boats used in the navigation of the lake and river, and 
here also reside the principal part of the " marineros," or 
men employed in managing them. There are several whole- 
sale mercantile houses, trading directly with New York, 
London, Liverpool, some of the French, Spanish, and Italian 
ports, and Jamaica. The principal supplies of the merchants 
have, for a number of years, been obtained from the island 
last named, where their credit is said to be better than that 
of the traders from any of the other Spanish States. The 
transactions are often, if not generally, cash, or what is equiv- 
alent, remittances in bullion, indigo, or other staples of high 
value and little bulk. Advances are often made, however, 
on prospective crops, which seldom fail. Iron, copper, and 
China wares, silks, calicoes, cottons, etc., are the principal im- 
ports ; while, as I have already said, the exports consist of 
indigo, bullion, hides, Brazil wood, and cofiee. As it is 
almost impossible to limit the production of tropical staples 
in Nicaragua, such as indigo, coffee, cacao, cotton, rice, sugar. 



192 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

and tobacco, not to mention hides, dye-woods, and medicines, 
the wealth and importance of Granada must go on increasing, 
as the country becomes developed by the introduction of 
enterprise and capital, both of which are rapidly taking that 
direction. This remark will hold true, even though the pro- 
spective canal, or the projected route of transit between the 
oceans, should not pass through or near it ; for it is really the 
only eligible position for a large town on the south or west- 
em shore of the lake, and is, and must ever remain, nearer 
than all others to the great centres of population and produc- 
tion. Several American hotels and mercantile houses are 
already established there, and it is becoming better known 
than any other city in all Central America. A small steam- 
er now plies between it and San Carlos, at the outlet of the 
lake. A short wharf or two alone are wanted to facilitate 
landing, and secure vessels from the waves of the lake, which 
sometimes roll in here with almost the force and majesty of 
those of the ocean. 

The lake of Nicaragua, called by the aborigines CocibolcOj 
which gives to Granada its importance, and which is the 
most remarkable natural feature of the country, has already 
been described, in general terms, in the second chapter of 
this book. It, of course, attracted the first attention of the 
Spanish adventurers, who made many wonderful reports 
of it, which, reaching Spain, excited much speculation as to 
the probability of a water communication between the two 
oceans. Indeed it was confidently announced by some that 
straits opened from it to the South and to the North Seas ; 
but it was not until 1529 that it was fully explored. In that 
year, we are informed by the historian Oviedo y Valdez, 
(who was in the country at the time of which he writes, but 
whose chronicle remained in manuscript until 1840, and has 
not yet, in any part, been published in English,) in that year, 
Pedro de Avila sent a man named Martin Estete, at the head 
of a party of soldiers and Indians, to make an exploration 



SXFLORATIOy OF LAKE NICARAGUA. 198 

both of Lake Nicaragua and Managua. They went into a 
province called Voto, which must have been to the north- 
ward of Lake Managua, but got involved with the natives, 
were attacked and driven back. They however saw, from 
the top of a mountain, a body of water, which they sup- 
posed to be a third lake. It was probably the great Gulf 
of Fonseca, which is nearly surrounded by land, and would, 
at a distance, be taken for an inland lake. Nothing of value 
resulted from this expedition. Subsequently, however, a 
private expedition was undertaken by Captain Diego Machu- 
ca, a friend of the historian Oviedo, which was more success- 
ful, and terminated in the discovery of the outlet of the lakes, 
down which the adventurers passed to the ocean. I shall let 
the old writer tell his own story. lie says : 



" Last year, (1540,) I met in the city of Santo Domingo the pilot Pedro 
Cora, who was one of those who had accompanied Estete in his trip to 
Veto, and had seen both the country and the dubious lake. He told me 
that he had come from New Castile, under the government of Francisco 
Pizarro, and that he had met at the port of Nombre de Dios some old 
friends whom he had known in the province of Nicaragua, and who had 
built a felouque and brigantine on the shores of the great lake of Nicara- 
gua, called CocCbolca in the language of the country. With them was a 
man named Diego Machuca, with whom I have been well acquainted, and 
who had been commandant of the country of the Cazique Tenderi, and of 
the country around the lake of Masaya. After having spent some thou- 
sands of dollars in building and arming these vessels at their own expense, 
they embarked with the intention of exploring these lakes thoroughly, or 
of perishing in the attempt Captain Diego Machuca advanced by land, 
at the head of two hundred men, taking the same course with the boats,, 
which were accompanied by some canoes. They, in course of time^ 
arrived at the spot where the waters of these lakes appeared to flow into 
the North Sea. As they knew not where they were, they followed the 
sea coast in an eastern direction, and finally arrived at the port of Nombre 
de Dios, where this pilot met them. He conversed, ate, and drank often 
with those who had thus passed out of these lakes into the sea. He also> 
told me that Doctor Robles held these men as prisoners, because he him- 
self wished to found a colony at the outlet of these kkes, and thus profit 

25 



194 NICARAGUA— NARBATIVB. 

bj the labor of another, as is the custom with tliese men of letters, for the 
use that they make of their wisdom is rather to rob than to render jus- 
tice ; and this was true of this man more than of others, for he was not 
only a UcenciadOj or Ixichelor, but a doctor, the highest grade of science, 
and has therefore shown himself the greatest tyrant! For tiiis reason, 
his employment has been taken away from him. Besides, if he had under- 
taken to found a colony at this outlet, he would have met there Captain 
Machuca, who would not have consented to have thus lost his time, 
money, and trouble ; the old soldier would have proved himself too sharp 
for the wise lawyer. I asked the pilot, at what point on the coast these 
lakes emptied into the ocean, but he replied that he was not at hberty to 
tell. I believe that he wished to conceal it from me himself, and that it 
was on this business he was going to Spain, on behalf of those who made 
the discovery. I believe this place to be about one hundred leagues west 
of Nombre de Dios,' and if I obtain any new information on this matter, 
I will put it in the concluding chapters of this book. 

" I do not regard what are called the two lakes of Nicaragua as sepa- 
rate lakes, because they connect tlie one with the other. They are sepa- 
rated from the South Sea by a very narrow strip of land ; and I should 
say that the distance from their upper extremity to Uie outlet in the North 
Sea, is two hundred and fiAy leagues.* The measures given by Pedro 
Arias and others are not true, since they did not know their extent 
They have made a separate lake on the side where is Leon de Nagrando, 
on the lands of a cazique named Tipitapa, which communicates with a 
narrow channel with that of Granada (Nicaragua.) In summer there is 
but little water in this channel, so little that a man may traverse it; the 
water coming up no higher than his breast. This lake is filled with ex- 
cellent fish. But what proves that they are both one lake is the fact that 
they equally abound in sea-fish and turtles. Another proof is that in 1529, 
there was found in the province of Nicaragua, upon the bank of this lake, 
a fish never seen except in the sea, and called the sword-fish, {ptxe bigue- 
/a,) on account of a bone armed on both sides with sharp points, placed in 
the extremity of its jaw. I have seen some of these fish of so great size, 
that two oxen attached to a cart could hardly draw them. A description 
of these may be found in Cap. iii. lib. 13, Part first of this work. The 
one found on the shores of this lake was small, being only about twelve 

' This estimate was very accurate ; the actual distance is but about two 
hundred and fifty miles in a right line. 

* Oviedo overshoots the mark here ; read miles for leagues, and the dis- 
tance is very near the truth. 



DESCRIPTION OP LAKE NICARAGUA. 195 

feet in length, and must have entered at the outlet of the lake. Its sword 
only of a hand's breadth, and of the width of two fingers. 

"The water of the lakes is very good and healthful, and a large num- 
ber of small rivers and brooks empty into them. In some places the great 
Wee is fifteen or twenty fathoms deep : in other places it is scarcely a foot 
in depth ; so that it is not navigable in all parts, but only in the middle, 
•nd with barks constructed expressly for the purpose. 

" It has a large number of islands, of some extent, covered with flocks and 
precious woods. The largest is eight leagues in circumference, and is inhab- 
ited by Indians. It is very fertile, filled with deer and rabbits, and named 
Omekpec, which signifies two mountains. It formerly contained a popu- 
^tion much more numerous than now, divided into eight or ten vil- 
lages. The mountain on this island towards the east is lowest ; the other 

m 

•* SO high that its summit is seldom seen. When I passed by this island 
^-iie atmosphere was very clear, and I could easily see the summit I 
pifcssed the night at a farm belonging to a gentleman named Diego Mora, 
situated on the main land near the island. The keeper told me that 
during the two years he had been in that place he had seen the sum- 
*^t but once, because it was always covered with clouds. 

^ On the south side of tlie great lake is a smaller one, called Songozana^ 

''^Hich is separated from it by a flat shore, but one hundred and fifty paces 

"'^d.e. It is formed by rains, which fill it up in the rainy season ; and as 

*t 13 higher than the great lake, its waters bear away the sand, and empty 

^mo it This laguna then becomes filled with alligators and all kinds of 

^slu But during the summer it nearly dries up. The Indians then kill 

'^''ith clubs great numbers of alligators and fish. It is about a league and 

a half in length, and three-fourths of a league in breadtk I visited it 

*^ the latter part of July, 1529, and there was but Httlc water in it. The 

Conner whom I have mentioned had many hogs, which fed on the fish 

"W-hich they caught here, and were so large that tlicy looked frightful, the 

**ione so, because they had the smell and taste offish. For this reason 

*hey are now kept away from the laguna, and only allowed to approach 

to drink. 

** In this vicinity there are numerous black tigers, which made great 
"*voc in this farmer's flocks. He had some excellent dogs, which had 
killed many of these tigers ; he showed me one in particular, that had 
■^iHed two or three. The skin of one of these animals, which he showed 
^^o, was black, like velvet. This kind is more ferocious than the spotted 
^*U"ioty. He said he would not take a thousand dollars for his dogs, for 
"*s pork was worth a thousand, and without the dogs the tigers would 
"*ve destroyed them all" 



196 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

A laguna, something like that of Songozana, described by 
Oviedo, occurs about six miles above the city of Granada, 
near the place called " Los Cocos," but I am not aware that 
it is ever dry. The statement that sword-fish have reached 
the lake seems somewhat apochryphal, although it should be 
observed that Oviedo is usually very accurate in matters of 
this kind. It is, however, a fact that sharks abound in the 
lake. They are called "tigrones" from their rapacity. 
Instances are known of their having attacked and killed 
bathers within a stone's throw of the beach at Granada ; and 
I have myself repeatedly seen them from the walls of the old 
castle, dashing about, with their fins projecting above the 
water. Great varieties of fish are found in Lakes Nicara- 
gua and Managua, which are extensively caught and used 
by the people residing on their shores. The lake of Nica- 
ragua was supposed, at one time, to have tides like the ocean, 
and the fact that it has an ebb and flow led to the early be- 
belief that it was only an estuary, or bay of the sea. The 
phenomenon is, however, of easy explanation. As I have 
said, the prevailing wind in Nicaragua is the north-east trade, 
which here sweeps entirely across the continent. This is 
strongest in the noon and evening, when it drives the water 
upon the western shores of the lakes ; it subsides towards 
morning, when the equilibrium is restored, and an ebb fol- 
lows. The regularity with which the winds blow, give a 
corresponding regularity to the ebb and flow of the lake. 
Sometimes, when the wind blows continuously, and with 
greater force than usual, fi'om the direction I have named, 
the low lands on the opposite shore of the lakes are flooded 
to a great extent. Such occurrences, however, are rare. 



CHAPTEE VII. 



KARRATIYE CONTDnJED — ARRIVAL OF THE GENERAL IN CHIEF — THE ARMY — 
FIREWORKS BY DAYUGHT — PRISONERS — INTERVIEW WITH GEN. MUNOZ — ^AR- 
BIYAL OF THE CALIFORNIAN ESCORT — " PIEORAS ANTIGUAS" — THE STONE OF 

THE BIG MOUTH — " EL CHIFLADOR" OTHER ANTIQUITIES — PREPARATIONS 

FOR DEPARTURE— CARTS AND " CARRETEROS" — VEXATIOUS DELAYS — DEPAR- 
TURE — HOW I GOT A GOOD HORSE FOR A BAD MULE, ON THE ROAD DISTANT 

VIEW OF THE LAKES — THE FREEDOM OF THE FOREST — ARRIVAL AT MASAYA — 
GRAND ENTREE — DESERTED PLAZA — A MILITARY EXECUTION — A " POSADa" — 
" mJOS DE WASHINGTON" — DISAPPOINTED MUNICIPALITY — ^WE ESCAPE AN OVA- 
TION — ROAD TO NINDIRI — ^APOSTROPHE TO NINDIRI I — OVERTAKE THE CARTS — 
" ALGO fresco" — ^APPROACH THE VOLCANO OF MASAYA — THE " MAL PAIS" — 
LAVA FIELDS — VIEW OF THE VOLCANO— ITS ERUPTIONS — " EL INFIERNO DE MA- 
SAYA," THE HELL OF MASAYA OVIEDO's ACCOUNT OF HIS VISIT TO IT IN 

1529 — ACTIVITY AT THAT PERIOD — THE ASCENT — THE CRATER — SUPERSTI- 
TIONS OF THE INDIANS — ^TIIE OLD WOMAN OF THE MOUNTAIN — THE DESCENT 
OF THE FRAY BLAS CASTILLO INTO THE CRATER. 

Sunday, the day after the events recited in a previous 
chapter, was ushered in by a general ringing of the church 
bells, and a miscellaneous firing of bombas, on the part of the 
boys. High mass was said in "La Parroquia," for the safe 
arrival of the General and his army. I now discovered the 
efficacy of the "banda." Red and yellow cloth was sus- 
pended in front of all the balconies ; gay curtains shaded 
every window ; festoons of flowers hung above every door, 
and little flags and boughs of trees were strung in all conve- 
nient places. The decorations in the plaza were particularly 
profuse and fanciful. Altogether the streets looked much 
like those of some of our own cities, tricked out on the occa- 
sion of a political festival, or some similar occasion, when 



198 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

impunity is conceded to absurdity of every kind. Men, 
women, and children were all dressed in their best attire, 
and seemed to be in high spirits. There was a general reac- 
tion from the despondency which had so long afflicted the 
popular mind ; and, as I strolled through the Jalteva, I ob- 
served that already many of the fugitive inhabitants had 
returned, and that the municipality began to have some sem- 
blance of life again. At about eleven o'clock messengers 
arrived, announcing that the General was at a "hatto," a 
league from the city, waiting for the coming up of the main 
body of his troops. Directly I heard the roll of drums in the 
plaza, and shortly after saw a large cavalcade, embracing the 
municipal and departmental officers, and a body of several 
hundred of the leading inhabitants, defile past to meet and 
welcome the General. When they had departed, there was 
a lull in the city ; the quiet of expectation had succeeded the 
bustle of preparation ; and, there being nothing more to see, 
I went back to my quarters, and lying down in my ham- 
mock, suspended beneath the corridor of the house, where 
the fresh breeze circulated freely, rustling the orange leaves, 
took up Layard's Nineveh, which had been published a day 
or two before I left the States. I read of winged bulls, 
priestly processions, and Arab bands, and in a state of half- 
consciousness was trying hard to make out something about 
the Yezidis, who would, nevertheless mix themselves up 
with the marineros of the lake, and the Naides of San Migu- 
eleto, when the discharge of a cannon, and the simultaneous 
clang of every bell in the city, startled me to my feet, and 
announced the approach of the long-expected, and long- 
wislied-for General. 

I took my place in the outer corridor, to see whatever there 
might bo to see. The streets were lined with people, mostly 
women, their heads protected by gaudy rcbosos ; while every 
door, window, and balcony was occupied by the better por- 
tion of the population, dressed to the limit of their finery. 



ABRIVAL OP THE GENERAL IN CHIEF, 199 

The discharge of cannon continued at regular intervals, be- 
coming more and more distinct as the guns approached, 
while the bells kept up an incessant and almost deafening 
clangor. The General, I thought, was slow in his move- 
ments, and a long time in coming; for it was full an horn 
before the head of the procession appeared, turning sharp 
around a corner near my quarters. A mass of horsemen, 
filling the entire street, passed along in utter confusion ; but 
these, I soon saw, were the citizens who had gone out to act 
as an escort. Following these was a small detachment of 
lancers, who moved in entire order, and made a good appear- 
ance. After them came a party of officers, brilliantly dressed, 
preceded by the flag of the republic, around which the peo- 
ple pressed in a dense body, shouting " Viva el esclarecido 
General 1 " " Viva el Gobierno Supremo 1 " " Viva la Ee- 
publica ! " " Muerte k los enemigos del orden ! " Death to 
the enemies of order 1 I had no difficulty in distinguishing 
amongst the fine body of men composing his staff, the erect 
and commanding figure of Gen. Mufioz himself. He was 
splendidly mounted, and wore a neat undress uniform of 
blue, turned up with red, and a Panama hat, covered with 
black oiled silk. He bowed in an easy and graceful man- 
ner, in acknowledgment of the " vivas" directed to him, and 
of the salutations of the sefioras and sefioritas in the balco- 
nies. I observed his face closely when he approached ; it 
was animated but firm, — expressive of his true character, 
which is that of a humane, chivalrous, high-minded, and 
brave man. I then thought, and still think him the finest 
looking officer I ever saw. 

Behind the General and his stafl^ was another detachment 
of lancers, followed by a band of music ; then came the 
soldiers in divisions. First were the " veteranos," or soldiers 
of the line, in a uniform of white pantaloons and jacket, a 
little black cap with a red ball perched in fi'ont, a species of 
network knapsack, a blanket thrown, toga-like, over one 



200 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

shoulder, and a musket resting on the other. This is their 
whole equipment ; they require no tents, baggage, or provi- 
sion wagons. If it rains, they throw their blankets over their 
shoulders and the locks of their muskets, turn their panta- 
loons up to their thighs, and march on. At night they roll 
themselves in their blankets, and lie down anywhere. A 
plantain and a bit of cheese, or tortilla, or a cup of tiste, con- 
stitute their simple rations, and on such fare they will march 
forty and fifty miles a day, through a country where an equal 
European or American force would not average ten. This 
body of " veteranos," marched with great precision and in 
good order, and was followed by the new recruits, who were 
rather a hard looking set, dressed in every variety of cos- 
tume, and not particular about keeping in line or marking 
step. Some wore only pantaloons and hat, the latter not 
always of the most classical model ; some had long legs to 
their breeches, some short, and some none at all ; but they 
all seemed to be in good spirits, and ready for almost any 
thing which might turn up. They bowed frequently, beck- 
oned, and sometimes spoke to acquaintances amongst the spec- 
tators, — ^improprieties of which the "veteranos" were never 
guilty. In fact, the latter, who were almost entirely Indians, 
seemed as impassible as men of bronze. Amongst the offi- 
cers in the General's staff I observed a full-blooded negro ; but 
his features were as regular as those of any European. He 
afterwards distinguished himself by his bravery and fidelity, 
and was promoted in consequence. 

Upon the entrance of the procession into the plaza, al- 
though it was broad daylight, a series of fireworks and rock- 
ets were let off, which produced a great noise and smoke, but 
none of those brilliant results for which they are got up 
amongst us, and of which the people here seem to have no 
idea. The primary object appeared to be to make a great 
noise, and in this they were perfectly successful. 

That afternoon, a division of troops, which had been sent 



BBI6HTER PROSPECTS. 201 

out the previous day, to break up a party of insurgents, 
who had concentrated at the Indian pueblo of Diriomo, came 
in, having eflfected their object, and bringing a number of 
prisoners. Among them was one of Somoza's lieutenants, 
who was pinioned, and marched in at the point of the bay- 
onet. A litter followed, bearing a wounded soldier, half of 
whose face had been shot away in the encounter, presenting 
a shocking spectacle. 

Before night, it became evident that a decided hand had 
now the control of affairs ; men were despatched to bring 
down the boats sent for safety to " Los Cocos ;" scouts de- 
tached to gather information ; a new regiment of enrolled 
men ordered to report themselves under arms next morning ; 
and a proclamation issued, guarantying the safety of all those 
arrayed against the government who should come in and 
surrender their arms. The patrols were doubled, and that 
night we were treated to an extra number of "alertas," from 
watchful sentinels. In the evening a council was held, to 
which all the leading citizens, whatever their previous differ- 
ences, were invited, and where the General himself set the 
example of patriotic forbearance and fraternization, by prof- 
fering his hand to men from whom he had been estranged 
for years. The result was auspicious, and the council re- 
solved upon the most prompt and decided action. 

Next morning, before sunrise, as I rode to take my daily 
bath in the lake, I saw the General in the Plaza, wrapped in 
his military cloak, drilling his troops in person. At eleven 
o'clock he paid me a formal visit, accompanied by his staff. 
My previous fiivorable impressions were more than confirmed 
by the interview. He spoke of the troubles in the country 
with the regret of a patriot, but the determination of a gene- 
ral, and sketched their origin, and the popular demoraliza- 
tion, boldly and impartially. Upon general topics he was 
familiar, and conversed with force and freedom. He had 
once been in New Orleans, where he had seen Mr. Clay, 

26 



202 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

who appeared to have left a characteristic impression on his 
mind. I found him perfectly well acquainted with the origin 
and progress of the Mexican war, and with the relative parts 
sustained in it by the American officers. Upon the subject 
of British aggressions, he spoke with great bitterness, and in 
a manner which showed how deep and ineffiiceable were the 
feelings of hatred which they had engendered. These ag- 
gressions, he said, made at a time when the country had 
begun to recover from its distractions, and when its more 
patriotic and intelligent citizens, before expatriating them- 
selves in despair, were making a last effort in its behalf and 
for the restoration of quiet and good government, were 
crimes against humanity not less than against the State. 
Just as the government had succeeded in reforming the army 
and restoring public confidence, when all its resources were 
wanted to carry out its new and enlightened policy, it found 
itself involved in a foreign controversy, shorn, on the shal- 
lowest pretexts, of half its territories, its revenues cut off, and 
all its energies crippled by a nation professing to be the most 
enlightened and philanthropic in the world I He had often 
felt dispirited, but had struggled on in the vague hope that 
the condition of the country might attract the sympathy and 
secure the good offices of other nations in its behalf, — as he 
now believed it had done those of the United States. The 
present disturbances, he added, had been directly charged 
upon the English, but however that might be, that people 
was directly responsible for its consequences ; for the insur- 
gents would never have dared to commit overt acts, whatever 
their disposition, had they not thought that the controversy 
with England had weakened the hands of the government 
and rendered it almost powerless ; and that in attacking it, 
they would receive some kind of countenance and support 
from British agents, if not from the British Government. 

I am thus particular in giving the exact tenor of this con- 
versation, as it was afterwards grossly misrepresented, and 



"PIKDRA DBL BOCA." 203 

made the subject of not over-polite, but very charactenBtic 
official correspoadence, on the part of the British agents. 

Id the afternoon of this da;, the first division of our Call- 
fornian escort, in a uniform of red shirts, and armed like 
brigands, made their appearance. They reported that the 
remainder had stopped for the night at the town of Masaya, 
in order to visit the extraordinary lake at that place, and 
would come on in the morning. The march of the General 
had cleared the roads, and as our arrival at the capital was 
anxiously expected, I determined to leave Granada at the 
earliest oossible moment, and made my arrangements accord- 
ingly. 

In the evening I visited a singular relic of antiquity, caned 
the "piedradelaboca," the stone of the mouth. It is planted 



i \} 




on the corner of one of the streets leading to the Jalteva, and 
consista of a large and singularly carved stone, which had 
been brought here by a curious " marinero," from an island in 
the lake. The accompanying engraving will convey a better 
idea of it than any description, and will explain why it bears 
its present name. It now projects about three feet above the 



204 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

ground, and is two feet broad by one and a. half in thickness. 
I had made diligent inquiry for ^^piedras antiguas,^^ ancient 
stones, but got very little information concerning any, — 
no information, in fact, except &om an old priest and scnne 
boatmen, who represented that many were to be found on 
the island of Ometepec, and on the large uninhabited island 
of Zapatero. I had, however, no time to visit them now, 
but made a note of them for afuture occasion. At the "es- 
quina," or corner of the old Convent of San Francisco, was 
another" piedra antigua," called " j&i CAjfeefor," the whist- 
ler. It had been much broken, and the head and upper part 
of the body were entirely destroyed. The fragments which 
remained showed that it had been well and elaborately 
carved. Tradition says that, when it was perfect, its mouth 
was open, into which the blowing of the wind made a mourn- 
ful, whistling noise, exciting suspicions that it was the incar- 
nation of one of the ancient " demonios" of the Indians. The 
pious padres demolished it in consequence; but probably 
less on that account than because they often found offerings 
before it, which the superstitious Indians had deposited 
during the night time. Another figure stood, and probably 
still remains at the south-eastern corner of the great Plaza, 
carved in black basalt. It represents a human figure, with 
jaws widely distended, and protruding tongue. Upon the 
head is crouched the representation of some kind of wild 
animal, of the cat kind. It is comparatively small, but well 
carved, and bold and striking in its outlines. This, and " el 
chiflador" were brought from the island of Zapatero. 

During the day, the remainder of the American division 
arrived at Granada. Including my own party, we mustered 
twenty-five strong, each man withal a walking arsenal. Two 
days were devoted to rest and visiting, and the morning of 
the third of July fixed for our departure. The evening pre- 
vious, our baggage was packed in carts, and sent ahead, 
under the escort of a detachment of lancers. 



CARTS AND " CARRETEROS." 205 

In the inhabited parts of Nicaragua, where the country is 
entirely level, or but slightly undulating, carts are almost 
universally used for the transportation of goods and the 
natural products of tlie country. They are exceedingly rude 
contrivances, but seemed to meet every requisition. The 
body consists of a stout frame- work of wood, and the wheels, 
as I have already said, are solid sections, cut from some large 
tree of hard wood, usually the mahogany. These are not 
sawed, but chopped into shape, and with an eye rather to 
use than to symmetry or beauty. The oxen, which are 
compact, active, and hardy animals, are not fastened in a 
yoke, as with us, but to a bar passing across their foreheads, 
and firmly lashed to their horns. Two pairs are the usual 
complement of a cart, but sometimes three pairs are used. 
When the " carreteros" have far to go with heavy loads, an 
extra yoke or two is either led or driven along, to be used 
in case of accident, and to relieve the others when tired. 
Two men are attached to each carreta ; one armed with his 
jnachete^ or a gun, goes ahead, to clear away obstacles, and 
to indicate the path, for the oxen are trained to follow him ; 
while another either walks behind or rides in the cart, and 
has a long pole pointed with an iron spike, with which he 
" touches up" the animals if they are inclined to loiter or ,be 
lazy. This kind of admonition is accompanied by shouts to 
them collectively or individually, for each one has a name, 
and with epithets more forcible than elegant. So the ap- 
proach of a cart is often known while it is half a mile or more 
distant; not solely by the shouts and maledictions of the 
" carreteros," but by the awful squeaking and shrieking of the 
wheels, which never fail to set the strongest nerves in a 
quiver. The roads in Nicaragua are lined with fragments of 
broken carts, here a wheel split in pieces, and there an axle 
broken in two. The axles are the first to fail, and therefore 
every cart carries two or three extra axles, in reserve for 
emergencies, li, however, the carretero should be unpro- 



206 



NICABAGCA — NARRATIVE. 



vided, he selects the first hard vrood. tree of the proper size 
which he can find, makes a new axle, and in half an hour is 
on his way again. The loads which are carried in these rude 
vehicles are almost incredible. Twenty-five hundred poundn 
is the standard freight, and is carried &om twenty-five to 




forty miles a day, depending somewhat upon the season. 
The morning, from three and four o'clock until eight or ten, 
and again in the evening from four until nine, are the usual 
hours for moving, for then the air is comparatively fresh and 
cool. Each cart carries a certain amount of " sacate " and 
corn for its animals, and their masters bivouac by the road- 
side wherever night overtakes them. The oxen are fastened 
to trees, the men light a fire and cook their coffee, and after- 
wards wrap up their heads in handkerchiefe, and if it is the 
dry season, swing their hammocks between two trees and go 
to sleep. It usually happens that two or more carta go in 
company, for mutual aid in case of accident, and then their 



CARRETEROS — DEPARTURE. 207 

encampments, upon which the traveller often comes suddenly 
at night, are highly picturesque. On such occasions, some 
swing carelessly in hammocks, others recline on the ground, 
and others busy themselves around the fire, while all smoke 
with unbroken energy. Half the night is sometimes spent 
in card playing, by fire light; and bursts of laughter and 
snatches of song startle the sleepy traveller jogging through 
the forests, and are answered by the growls of the wild 
beasts or the howls of the " mono Colorado." They are stal- 
wart, jolly fellows, these " carreteros," and like the " arrie- 
ros," or muleteers of Mexico, invincibly honest. Merchants 
never hesitate in entrusting the most valuable goods to their 
care, and I believe no instance is known of their proving 
faithless to the trust reposed in them. On the contrary, the 
poor fellows, when attacked by robbers, as they sometimes 
are, will fight to the death in defence of their carts. Like 
the " marineros" on the lake, they constitute an almost dis- 
tinct class of citizens, and in the city of Leon live in a certain 
"barrio," or ward, that of San Juan. Some of them have a 
large number of oxen and carts, which they sub-let to the 
poorer members of the fraternity of "carreteros," among 
whom exists an esprit de corps which will permit no under- 
bidding or other irregular practices. 

The morning of our departure came, and agreeably to in- 
structions, Ben roused us at early dawn. We were individu- 
ally ready to move at sunrise ; for, although we only pro- 
posed to go to the city of Managua, a distance of fifty miles, 
the first day, we wished to take the journey leisurely, as be- 
came travellers in a new and strange country. Don Frede- 
rico, as our old friend. Monsieur Sigaud, at San Juan, had 
done before, smiled incredulously when we talked of an early 
departure; but, as the horses and mules were positively en- 
gaged to be at our door at sun-rise, and as the man who let 
them was a person of mark, and an old Spaniard to boot, we 
felt a good deal of faith in our plans. The sun rose, and 



208 NICABAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

after walking up and down the corridor, in heavy boots, with 
clanking spurs, for half an hour, with a growing conviction 
that we were somewhat verdant, we were called to breakfe^t. 
Don Prederico looked provokingly good-natured, and when 
Ben, who had been despatched to stir up the laggard " em" 
prestadnr^^^ returned, with the news that the men had only 
just gone to hunt up the animals in the fields, he laughed 
outright, and so did we, notwithstanding our vexation. We 
shortly found that our escort was no better off; their horses 
had not yet come in. So we all went to the plaza, and sat 
xmtil past nine o'clock, witnessing the drilling of the new 
recruits. All things must have an end, and so did our sus- 
pense. The horses finally came ; and, after a world of try- 
ings on and takings off, pulling here and padding there, the 
beasts were saddled, and we marched to the plaza, where^ 
according to previous understanding, we were met by the Gen- 
eral and his stafi^ and a crowd of citizens on horseback, who 
had gathered to escort us " with all the honors" out of the 
city. My young medical friend firom New Haven had won 
the privilege of carrying the flag at the head of the cavalcade, 
and after him, under the marshalling of a stalwart Buckeye, 
who had served amongst the dragoons in the Mexican war, 
the " Californian division" was arranged in column with 
military precision. The troops were all drawn up, and pre- 
sented arms as we defiled by, under a discharge firom the 
cannon in firont of the " Cuartel General." The people lined 
the streets, and shouted as earnestly for " los Estados Uni- 
dos del Norte," and its representative, as they did for the 
"esdarecido General," upon his arrival a few days before. 

I could not help thinking of the figure which our singular 
cavalcade must have cut in the eyes of an uninterested specta 
tor, nor resist smiling at my own part in the affair. It, how- 
ever, was a bona fide ceremonial, and so received and valued* 
As we approached the arsenal, we found its garrison on the 
qui Vive; a little wreath of smoke shot up, and boom went the 



A BAD MULE FOR A GOOD HORSE. 209 

cannon there. Altogether this was more imposing than our 
departure from San Cartas, and not a whit less entertaining. 
I was mounted on a large white mule, which the empresta- 
dmr had specially recommended to me as " muy manso y 
comodo" very gentle and easy ; but which I soon found was 
an old broken-winded beast, and a villanously hard travel- 
ler. The Greneral observed that I had been taken in, and 
glancing round, fixed his eyes on the dashing horse of a 
young fellow, deputed by the government to accompany us 
on our march as commissary and provider. Directly he 
stopped short, and ordered him to dismount and change ani- 
mals with me. The order was promptly obeyed, — for there 
was no parleying with the General ; and although I thought 
the proceeding rather summary, I was too glad to get rid of 
the mule to offer the slightest objection to the arrangement. 
Besides, the deposed horseman should have provided us with 
better animals — of course he should ! 

Our escort accompanied us about two miles, to a point 

where the short cut, or mule path, to Masaya diverged from 

the camino real; and here, after a profusion of bows, an 

interminable shaking of hands, and "buenasviajes," and 

"Dios guardes," in every tone and emphasis, we separated 

from the crowd, and went on our way alone. The path was 

narrow, and led through bush and brier, under gigantic 

trees, draped all over with vines, down into dark ravines, 

^here the sim's rays never reached, over ridges covered with 

ff^^ with here and there clusters of luxuriant trees, gemmed 

^ over with fragrant flowers, where we could catch views 

^^ the glittering lake, with its distant shores, and several 

"^nds. Thus we went, in Indian file, the red shirts and 

gleaming arms of the men giving life and relief to the scene, 

^<i making the noisy parrots, which fluttered beside the path, 

*^iU more noisy ; while brightly colored birds glanced in and 

^t of the thick green coverts, or a startled deer bounded 

^^^^Uriedly before us ! AUogether, the novelty, excitement, 

27 



210 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

and beauty filled me with that wild delight which only the 
Arab feels, or the free Indian on his prairie ocean, and one 
hour's enjoyment of which were " worth ten years of quiet 
life !" My chest expands, and every nerve becomes tense, 
even now, while I write, at the recollection of that glorious 
morning, and that march to Masaya. Occasionally we came 
upon a cane house, nestled in some quiet glen, or upon some 
beautiful slope, surrounded by palms and plantains, and 
fields of tobacco and maize, in the doors of which stood 
women and knots of frightened children, who gazed wonder- 
ingly uj3on our strange party. They all seemed reassured 
when we cried out " adios amigas I" and responded with 
" Dios guarde a Ustedcs, caballeros !" " God preserve you, 
Sirs !" At about six miles from Granada, we reached the 
highest point of ground between that city and Masaya ; one 
of those ridges of land which seem to radiate like the legs of 
a lobster from the great volcano of Momobacho, and which 
are, for the most part, destitute of trees. From this point 
we obtained our finest view of Lake Nicaragua, the river, or 
estuary of Tijjitapa connecting it with Lake Managua, and of 
that lake itself, hemmed in, upon the east, by the high irreg- 
ular moimtains of Matagalpa and Xcw Segovia. Between us 
and the lakes was a magnificent sIojjc, leagues on leagues in 
extent, a sea of dense tree-tops, unrelieved, so far as the eye 
could discover, by a single acre of cleared or cultivated 
ground. Yet there were many haciendas and estates, the posi- 
tions of which were indicated by wreaths of smoke rising in 
thin curls here and there above the trees. We dismounted, 
and sat for half an hour beneath a spreading tree, to enjoy 
the prosj)cct, and pay our respects to the canteens of water, 
(diluted with ardiente^) with which each man was supplied. 

The path by which we journeyed had been used, from time 
immemorial, for mules and horses, and in many places, par- 
ticularly on the declivities of the swells of land, where water 
had contributed it*^ aid, it was worn deep in the soft rock 



ENTRANCE TO MASAYA. 211 

and compacted earth, and so narrow as utterly to preclude 
all turning around after it had once been entered. Upon 
approaching such places, if their whole extent cannot be dis- 
covered, it is usual to halloo loudly, in order to ascertain if 
any one is approaching ; for if horsemen meet in these places, 
one or the other must back out, — a process sufficiently 
difficult. 

At about one o'clock the more frequent occurrence of cul- 
tivated grounds, of little "hattos" and cane cabins, showed 
that we were approaching the large Indian j^ueblo of Masaya. 
The path became broader, and showed constant use ; and 
numerous little paths diverged in every direction. Where 
they joined the main road, crosses were in some cases erected, 
on which hung wreaths of faded flowers, perishing tokens of 
pious zeal. We now met and overtook numbers of Indians, 
singly and in groups, carrying netted sacks, filled with ears of 
maize, with vegetables, or meats: some had braided mats, hats 
of woven palm leaves, hammocks, and other articles for sale 
or use. Tliey all silently gave us the road on our approach. 
They seldom spoke unless first addressed ; but then always 
replied politely, sometimes adding, interrogatively, " Cali- 
fornia ? " They were small, but well-formed, with teatures 
much more regular than our Indians, and of singularly mild, 
and ex{)ressivc features, and docile manners. 

The entrance to Masaya was by a long and broad street, 
lined on both sides by a forest of fruit-trees, beneath which 
were clustered the thatched cane houses of the inhabitants. 
We had previously waited until the rear of our party had 
come up, and now spurred through the streets in a solid col- 
umn. As we went on, the houses became more numerous, and 
occasionally one of adobes, with a tiled roof, appeared amongst 
the frailer structures which I have described. After going 
nearly half a mile, we turned short to the right, and riding 
for a number of blocks in streets precisely resembling those 
of Granada, passing an abandoned convent or two, we gal- 



212 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

loped into the principal plaza. In the centre of this stood 
the great church, a long, heavy building, with a very fiiir 
fiiQade and tower, and much exceeding in size any of the 
churches of Granada. On the sides of the plaza were several 
rows of fine shops, with their doors and shutters covered with 
tin ; for more foreign goods are retailed in Masaya than in 
any other town in the State. Its people are regarded as the 
most industrious, and are celebrated throughout all Central 
America for the extent and variety of their manufactures. 
Cordage, hammocks, saddles, cotton cloth " petates" or mats, 
hats, shoes, in short, all the articles of common use in the 
country, are produced here, besides large quantities of dulces 
(sweetmeats and jellies,) which were, at one time, extensively 
exported to Peru and South America. But the shops, in 
consequence of the existing troubles, were shut, and the 
plaza was almost entirely deserted. Near the dead wall of 
the church a rude chair was standing; it was the fatal 
" hanqueto^^^ upon which, a few days before, one of the leading 
" facciosos" of the city, after having been tried and condemned 
by a court-martial, had been shot. Near by the sod was 
turned up, marking the spot where the body of the executed 
man was buried. He had been tried at one o'clock, con- 
demned at two, shot at three, and buried at four. Short 
shrift, indeed; but such is the summary process of martial 
law in Nicaragua, when, as in this instance, the guilt of the 
criminal admits neither of doubt nor extenuation. Some of 
our party had witnessed the execution, which they described 
as very impressive. It was done in sight of the entire army, 
from which a corporal's guard was detached for the service. 
The 2)risoner was first taken within the church, where ho 
confessed and received the sacrament He was conducted 
to his seat by two priests, a little cross put in his hands, and 
a blessing invoked on his soul. Guns, in half of which only 
were balls, were placed in the hands of the guard, who fired 
at the distance of ten paces. The man fell dead at the first 



THE CITY OF MASAYA. 2i3 

discharge. The example was deemed necessary, and it no 
doabt was so in this instance. It should, however, be ob- 
served, that no officer has established a higher character for 
Immanitj than Greneral MufLoz, who has never stained his 
reputation by any of those butcheries and wanton cruelties 
which have been the rule, rather than the exception, in the 
civil wars of Spanish America. 

We rode to tikposada kept by an exceedingly fat and cheer- 
ful lady, who was so happy that her "pobre casa" should be 
honored by the "hijos de Washington," the sons of Wash- 
ington I In a few minutes, several of the alcaldes of the 
town came in, out of breath, and in great tribulation because 
they had not been apprised of our approach. They proposed 
even now to ring all the bells, and were urgent that we 
should stop the rest of the day, so as to give them an oppor- 
tunity of making a demonstration commensurate to the im- 
portance of the occasion. But we pleaded haste, and pro- 
mised to return soon, and thus escaped being lionized in 
Masaya. We had proposed to stop here several hours, and 
visit the remarkable volcanic lake, from which the town is 
supplied with water, but the delay of the morning compelled 
us to cut short our stay, if we would reach Managua, twelve 
leagues distant, that night. So we only allowed the horses 
to breathe awhile, and then mounted again and resumed our 
march. We went quite two miles from the plaza before we 
got fairly out of the city, which has some fifteen or eighteen 
thousand inhabitants, and covers full a square league. 

Beyond Masaya is a broad and beautiful avenue, lined on 
either hand by luxuriant fields : in this respect far surpassing 
the country around Granada. This avenue leads to the 
pueblo of Nindiri, and people mounted or on foot passing to 
and fro, gave it an appearance of animation beyond what we 
had hitherto seen out of the towns. About midway between 
Masaya and Nindiri, the road passes over a bubble-shaped 
hill, raised by volcanic forces from below, the uplifted strata 



214 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

curving with all the regularity of the rainbow. Although it 
would have been easy to have passed around it, yet as the 
Indians before the conquest had probably gone directly over, 
the same path has been continued, for no better reason, ever 
since. It however had been much improved, and a deep 
notch had been cut or worn in the soft sand rock, to the 
depth of forty or fifty feet, resembling very much the deep 
cuts on the lines of some of our railroads. Upon one side, 
in a little nitch, stood a small cross, covered with wilted 
flowers. Beyond this defile, the road resumed its broad and 
level course, and we rode rapidly over its gravelled bed into 
the town of Nindiri. 

Nindiril How shall I describe thee, beautifiil Nindiri, 
nestling beneath thy fragrant, evcrgreenroof of tropical trees, 
entwining their branches above thy smooth avenues, and 
weaving green domes over the simple dwellings of thy peace- 
ful inhabitants! Thy musical name, given thee long ages 
ago, perhaps when Rome was young, has lost nothing of its 
melody ; Neenda^ water, and Diria^ mountain, it still tolls us, 
in an ancient and almost forgotten tongue, that thou slumber- 
est now, as of yore, between the lake and the mountain ! 
Amongst all the foiry scenes of quiet beauty which the eye 
of the traveller hath lingered upon, or the fancy has limned 
with her rosy-hued pencil, none can compare with thee, beau- 
tiful Nindiri, chosen alike of the mountain Fairies and forest 
Drvads, of the Sylphs of the lake, and the Naiads of the foun- 
tain ! Nindiri ! 

This little Indian village far surpassed, in point of pictur- 
esque beauty, an\i;hing we had yet seen. Oranges, plantains, 
niarafions, jocotes, nisperos, mamays, and tall palms, with 
their variouslv-colored fruits blushinc? brown or golden 
among the leaves, and here and there a low calabash tree, 
with its green globes strung on every limb, all clustering to- 
gether, literally embowered the cane huts of the simple- 
minded and industrious inhabitants. Indian women, naked 



KIKDIRI — AN APOSTROPHE. 215 

U> the waist, sat beneath the trees spinning snow-white eotton 
or the fibre of the j»tto, {agave^) while their noisy, naked little 
ones tumbled joyously about on the smoothly-beaten ground, 
where the sunUght fell in flickering, shifting mazes, as the 
wind bent the branches of the trees with its unseen fingers. 
Quiet primitive Nindiri I seat of the ancient caziques and 
their barbaric courts, — even now, amidst the din of the crowd- 
ed city, and the crush and conflict of struggling thousands, 
amidst grasping avarice and importunate penury, bold- 
fronted hypocrisy and heartless fashion, where virtue is 
modest and vice is brazen, where fire and water, and the 
very lightnings of heaven, are the slaves of human will, how 
turns the memory to thee, as to some sweet vision of the 
night, some dreamy Arcadia, fancy-born, and half unreal ! 

We rode through the arched and hedge-lined streets into 
a broad open plaza, in the centre of which stood a quaint old 
church A few sleek cows were lying in its shade, chewing 
their cuds in a meditative way, and hardly opening their 
sleepy eyes as we trotted by. Beneath some large trees upon 
one side of the plaza, we descried our carts and their escort, 
taking what at home would be called " a nooning." The 
lances of the men were stacked together, and their horses 
fastened with lariats to the carts, forming, with their gay 
trappmgs, a striking group, abundantly set off by the reclin- 
ing figures of their riders, who had disposed themselves in atti- 
tudes expressive of the fullest abandonment to individual 
ease. We were not long in joining the party. The officer 
in command, in anticipation of our arrival, had prepared two 
or three jars of " algo fresco," something fresh, delight- 
My compounded of water, the juice of the cocoa-nut, and 
of the acidulous marafion, — ^a delicious and refreshing bever- 
^) to which we paid our respects in protracted draughts, 
Qot fwgetting " mil graciasj^^ and sundry viedios to a plump, 
laughing Indian girl who dispensed it, in snowy calabashes, 
^ the thirsty strangers. 



L 



216 NICARAGUA — NABRATIVE. 

The only part of the road which was supposed to be fre- 
quented by the ladron^ was now passed, and although the 
commander of the escort was very willing to proceed with 
the carts, I did not think it necessary, and so it was agreed 
that he should return. This arranged, we all mounted again, 
and the last we saw of our military friend was the gleaming 
lances of his men, and the fluttering of their little red stream- 
ers, as they galloped back through the streets of Nindiri. 

Beyond the town we struck into the forest, and began to 
ascend one of the slopes or spurs of the volcano of Masaya. 
Occasional openings among the trees enabled us to catch 
glimpses of lake, plain, and mountain, more extended even^ 
and more beautiful than those which we had witnessed in 
the morning, from the heights beyond Masaya. The road 
passed over fields of disintegrating pumice and lava-beds 
ages old, and now covered with accumulated soil and a thick 
forest. At the distance of about a league, however, we came 
to what is called the " mal pais,^^ literally, the bad country. 
It was an immense field of lava, which at the last eruption 
of Masaya had flowed down from the volcano, for a distance 
of fifteen or twenty miles, in the direction of the lakes. The 
road crossed it on the summit of a ridge running transversely 
to the lava current, where the field was narrow, but spread- 
ing out on both sides to a great distance. It looked like a 
vast plain of cast iron, newly cooled, black and forbidding. 
In places it was rolled up in frowning masses, elsewhere 
piled one flake on the other, like the ice in the spring time, 
upon the shores and low islands, or in the narrow channels 
of our rivers. An ocean of ink, suddenly congealed during a 
storm, if the imagination of the reader can picture it, would 
better illustrate its appearance than anything else which 
occurs to me at this moment. Here and there great, ragged 
masses, fifty or a hundred feet square, had been turned com- 
pletely over by the current as it flowed beneath, exhibiting 
upon the exposed surface a regularly striated appearance, 



VOLCANO OP ICASATA. 217 

like the curling fibre of the oak or maple. I dismounted and 
scrambled out amongst the crinkling fragments, but did not 
go far, as the sharp edges and points cut through my boots 
like knives. At one place I observed where the half-cooled 
lava had wrapped itself, layer on layer, around a large tree, 
which, subsequently burning out or deca)ring, had left a per- 
fect cast of its trunk and principal branches, so accurate that 
the very roughness of the bark could still be traced. But 
what struck me with most surprise was the circumstance that 
tie flood of lava had flowed over the narrow ridge where I 
was standing, and that a depression existed between me and 
the volcano whence the molten matter had come. It was 
clear enough that the popular adage and axiom about the 
indisposition of water to flow up hill, does not always apply 
to lava. The explanation of the phenomenon may perhaps 
be found in the tact that the surface of the lava cooling, is 
thrown off in fragments, building walls on either side, be- 
tween which the lava current continues to flow, until rising 
high, and the vertical pressure becoming great, it breaks 
through the barrier, and discharges itself laterally. Or, the 
intermediate valley being filled by the melted substance with 
a rapidity which would not admit of its finding its level at 
once, it is easy to tmderstand that it might discharge itself 
over the ridge ; and the supply subsequently ceasing, the 
accumulated matter in the valley, spread out laterally and 
subside, in the manner here exhibited* 

Not a tree intervened between me and the volcano, only 
the broad, black and rugged waste of lava. I could therefore 
distinctly see the mountain, and trace the ragged outlines of 
its ancient and principal crater. This latest discharge of 
lava, however, does not seem to have been made from this 
mouth, but from a lower elevation, upon the slope of the 
volcano. This elevation had a reddish, scoriaceous appear- 
ance, and its crater, one side of which had been broken down 

28 



218 NICARAGUA— NABBATIVE. 

by the lava, was comparatively small. In fact there were a 
nimiber of orifices, or craters, at other points, which had been 
the vents in previous eruptions. It was evident enough that 
there had been hot work here in past times, although every- 
thing looked quiet enough now. 

The early chroniclers have a great deal to say about this 
volcano, which was called " El Infierno de Masat/a,^^ the Hell 
of Masaya. Its last eruption, when the lava field which I 
have described was formed, occurred within the historical 
period, in 1670. No detailed account of it has ever been pub- 
lished, although there is little doubt that it was duly recorded 
by some of the ecclesiastics of the coimtry, whose relations 
stiU exist amongst the archives of the Church in Spain or Italy. 

Since this final eruption, the volcano has been in a dor- 
mant state. It was visited in 1840 by Mr, Stephens, who 
discovered no signs of activity. Yet, at the time of the Dis- 
covery, it was regarded as one of the greatest wonders of the 
New World. The chronicler Oviedo visited it in 1529, and 
has left us a very complete account of its appearance and 
condition at that period. He says : 

" There is another mountain in this province, called Masaya, of which I 
can speak as an eye-witness, having visited it in person, after having heard 
many fables related by those who pretended to have ascended to the cra- 
ter. I once went up Vesuvius, and beheld a crater of twenty-five or 
thirty fathoms in diameter, from which smoke rose perpetually, which 
smoke people say changes to a very bright flame at night I remained 
there a whole night, with the Queen of Naples, whose chief of the ward- 
robe (guarda ropa) I was, whither I accompanied her in 1501. From 
thence we went to Palermo, in Sicily, near which is Mount Etna." 
Oviedo here makes a long enumeration of the volcanoes known at the 
time he wrote, and continues: " But it seems to me tliat none of these 
volcanoes are to be compared with that of Masaya, which, as I have said, 
I have seen and examined myself Of this the reader shall be the judge, 
after he has read the description of that mountain, whose name signifies 
* the burning mountain,' in the language of the Chorotegans, in whose ter- 



VOLCANO OF MA8ATA. 219 



ritory it is situated. In the language of Nicaragua it is called ' Pop<h 
ffotepeCj^ which mcanA * boiling stream/ ' 

" I will now relate what I saw. I lefl the village of Managua, July 
25, 1529, and spent the night at the house of Diego Machuca [who, we 
have seen, was the first explorer of Lake Nicaragua], being half a league 
from the foot of the mountain, on the shores of Lake NindirL I de- 
scended the same day to examine the lake ; and the next, which was 
St James' day, I started before the rising of the sun to ascend the 
mountain, and behold the flame, and the other extraordinary things 
worthy of mention. This mountain is very steep, and is surrounded by 
Indians of the Ghorotegan nation. Tigers, Hons [pumas], and many other 
ferocious animals abound here. Beyond this mountain stretches an un- 
cultivated plain, which the Spaniards have named el malpais. It is cov- 
ered with rocks, resembling scoriae. In this an isolated mountain rises 
up to the height of a league from foot to summit The mountain may be 
three or four leagues in circumference at its base, and is entirely differ- 
ent from those in its neighborhood. I know that many Spaniards 
have sent descriptions of this mountain to the emperor ; and that others, 
on their return to Spain, have given out what they have seen, whose rela- 
tions I do not doubt On the contrary, I rejoice that I am to speak of a 
matter so well known, and that there is no lack of witnesses who can 
attest the truth of my recital. Many of those who pretend to have visited 
this mountain have only seen it from a distance ; and but few have as- 
cended it Some assert that the Hght of the flame is sufficiently strong to 
read by, at the distance of three leagues, which I cannot confirm. 

" I left the house of Machuca in the middle of the nighty as I have be- 
fore mentioned, and I had nearly reached the summit at sunrise. It 
was not, however, light enough for me to read my prayers (breviary), 
which I had brought with me, when I was within a quarter of a league 
of the summit Yet the night was very dark, in consequence of which 
the flame appeared more brilliant I have heard persons worthy of credit 
say that when the night is very dark and rainy, the Hght from the crater 
is so vivid that one can see to read at the distance of half a league ; 
this I will neither affirm nor deny, for at Granada or Salteba, when there 
is no moon, the whole country is illuminated by the flame of the volcano; 

' This is a mistake of the chronicler. Popo or poco is the Mexican for 
smoke, and iepec mountain, i. e. " Smoking Mountain." Ca or ga is a 
word used to impersonate, embody, or individualize. It will shortly be 
seen that a Mexican colony existed in Nicaragua. 



220 NICABAGUA-— NABRAnVE. 

and it is a fact that it can be seen at the distance of sixteen or twentj 
leagues ; for I have seen it at that distance mysel£ However, we cannot 
call that which proceeds from the crater precisely a flame, but rather a 
smoke as bright as a flame ; it cannot be seen at that distance by day, but 
only at night, as I have said. 

"But to return to my journey; I was accompanied by a cazique 
whose baptismal name was Don Francisco ; in the Ghorotegan language 
he was called Natatime ; also by a negro and two faithful Indiana Al- 
though the negro was a safe man, I acknowledge that I was wrong to 
put myself in such company ; but I made up my mind to do so from the 
desire I had to succeed in this enterprise. I had found Machuca sick; 
those who w^ere to accompany me had broken their word, and returned 
to Granada; yet I was not willing to suspend my journey, so great was 
my desire to learn what truth there might be in the relations of those who 
pretended to have been there. When it was no longer possible to go on 
horseback, I dismounted, and put sandals of wood on my feet, for shoes 
would not answer for such a road. I lefl one of the Indians to take 
charge of my horse, and went forward with the cazique, who served us 
for a guide, and who, with the negro and the other Indian, I made to go 
before me. When the cazique arrived near the crater, he sat down, fifteen 
or twenty paces off, and pointed out to me with his finger the frightful 
spectacle. The summit of the mountain forms a pkUeaUj covered with red, 
yellow, and black rocks, spotted with divers colors. Except on the east- 
em side, where I stood, the whole plateau is occupied by a crater, whose 
orifice is so large, that in my opinion a musket ball could not traverse iU 
There proceeds from it a continual smoke, but not so thick as to pre- 
vent one from examining it both internally and externally ; for, as the 
east wind blows continually here, it bears the smoke away to the oppo- 
site side from the spectator. This crater is, to the best of myjudg^ 
ment, and of those whom I have heard speak of it, about one hundred 
and thirty fathoms in depth ; the width continually diminishing as it 
descends. This mountain is not as high on its southern and eastern 
sides as on the others, and looks like human workmanship, so regular 
are its outlines ; excepting, however, the side where I was, which, as I 
have before mentioned, is covered with rocks. There were also some 
caverns, but one could see little or nothing but their entrances; and the 
sides of the crater could scarcely be seen; for no one durst advance suf- 
ficiently near. 

"At the bottom of the crater could be seen a place perfectly round, 
and large enough to contain a hundred cavaliers, who could play at 



VOLOAKO OF ICAfiAYA. S2t 

fencing and have more than a thoasand spectators; it would hold eves 
more than that, were it not for another crater in the middle of it^ in- 
clining a little to the south, which can be Tory distinctlj seen. It 
appeared to me to be from forty to sixty &thoms in depth and four- 
teen or fifteen paces in circumference. It might be much more ; for I 
viewed the opening from a very high pointy and the depth from a stUl 
higher point On the north side, the crater is three times as far from 
the interior wall of the volcano as on the south side. 

" Happening to be at Valladolid in 1548, at the court of the prince 
N. 8. Don Rodrigo de Contreras, who was once governor of this province, 
he told me that the depth of the volcano had been measured in his 
presence, and found to be one hundred and thirty fathoms ; and from 
the bottom to the burning fluid, forty fathoms more ; but a circumstance, 
mentioned to me by the commander, Fr. Francis de Bobadilla, still more 
astonished me, viz. : that when he ascended to the crater of Masaya, with 
some other persons, the holes were in the middle of the place, and the 
burning matter had risen to within four fathoms of the top ; and yet 
six months had not elapsed since my journey. I am of the opinion, 
however, that he told the truth; for besides his being a man worthy of 
belief^ I have heard Machuca say that he had seen the burning matter 
rise even with the top. 

*^ I said that I beheld at the bottom of the second crater a fire, which 
was as liquid as water, and of the color of brass. This fire appeared to 
me more violent than any I had ever seen before, and entirely covered the 
bottom of the crater. From time to time this matter rose into the air with 
great force, hurling large masses to a height of many feet, as it appeared 
to me. Sometimes these masses were arrested on the sides of the crater, 
and remained there, before becoming extinguished, time enough to repeat 
the credo six times, and then looked like the scori® of a forge. I cannot 
believe that a Christian could behold this spectacle unmindfiil of hell, 
and unrepentant of his sins ; particularly whilst comparing this vein of 
sulphur with the eternal grandeur of everlasting fire which awaits those 
who are ungrateful to God I 

" Towards the middle of the first crater, a large number of parroquets 
might be seen, circling around, of that species having the long tails, and 
called jijaves. I could only see their backs, for I was much higher than 
they. They make their nests among the rocks, below the spectator. I 
threw some stones into the abyss, and made the negro do likewise, but 
could never distinguish where they fell ; which proves clearly how high 
was the place where I stood. Some persons have asserted that when the 



222 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVB. 

parroquets are fluttering among these places, and one looks fixedly, he 
seems not to see fire but sulphur. I am not far removed from this opiii- 
ion, but leave the decision to those knowing more of the matter than 
myself 

" On the top of the volcano, on the eastern part^ an elevation rises up, 
in which is an opening like to the crater, but deeper. A smoke ascends 
through it) which cannot be seen during the daytime, but which pro- 
jects into the darkness a great light, uniting itself to that proceeding 
from the larger opening. This opening does not terminate in a broad 
bottom, but is a funnel-shaped orifice, apparently filled with coaisL The 
cazique told me that, in the times of his ancestors, the main crater was here, 
but that subsequently it changed its location to the spot it now occupies. 
These two craters are separated from each other only by some rocks. 
The ground is covered with barren trees, yielding no fruity except one 
alone, which produces yellow berries, about the size of a musket ball, 
named nanzi; they are good to cat, and the Indians say that they are 
good for bowel complaints. No birds are seen on this mountain, except 
crows, and the parroquets I have spoken of 

" A remarkable circumstance, told me by Machuca and Fr. Francis de 
Bobadilla is, that the melted matter sometimes mounts to the top of the 
crater, whilst I could see it only at a great depth. Having made due 
inquiry in regard to this, I have learnt that when much rain falls, the 
fire does, in fact, ascend as far as the top ; for the cavity becomes filled 
with water, which flows in from all parts of the mountain, and remains 
full until it has been overcome and destroyed by the heat of the opposing 
element. This view of the matter is confirmed by what Olaus Magnus 
says of the volcanoes of Iceland, which do not consume the combusti- 
bles around them, but the water which they contain. It must bo so at 
Masaya ; for when the flame is seen at the distance of a league and a half^ 
it does not look like flame, but burning smoke which covers the whole 
mountain. If it were fire, it would leave neither tree, leaf, nor verdure ; on 
the contrary, the whole mountain is covered with trees and herbage, almost 
to tlie borders of the crater. 

" I spent two hours here, gazing and drawing, till ten o'clock ; it was 
the day of St Anne ; I then resumed my route to Granada, or Sal- 
teba, which is three leagues from Masaya. Not only in this city, but 
even at the distance of two leagues beyond it, the volcano gave as mudi 
light as the moon some days before she fulls. 

" I have heard the cazique of Ten<leri [Nindiri] say that he has oflen 
gone, in company with other caziques, to the edge of the crater ; and that 



TOLOANO OF UA3AYA. 228 

an <dd woman, entirely naked, has come forth from it, with whom they 
held a moneaoieOj or secret coanciL They consulted her in order to know 
if they should make war, or decline or grant a truce with their enemies. 
They did nothing without first consulting her ; for she told them whe- 
ther they were to conquer or to be conquered : she told them also, if it 
were about to rain; if the harvest of maize would be abundant ; and, in 
fine, an future eyenta. And every thing always came to pass just as 
she had predicted it would. On such occasions, a man or two, some 
-^vomen, and children of both sexes, were sacrificed to her ; the victims 
offering themselves voluntarily. He added that since the Christians came 
ijito the country, the old woman had appeared only at long intervals ; 
tJiat she had told them the Christians were wicked ; and that she did not 
'wish to have any communication with the Indians until they had driven 
ti^he Christians from their country. I asked him how they got below. 
Se answered that formerly there was a road ; but that the cavity had 
iDeen enlarged by the caving in of the land around it, and thus the path 
liad been destroyed. I asked him what they did after their council with 
'^he old woman, and what was her appearance. He replied that she was 
old and wrinkled ; that her breasts hung down over her belly ; that her hair 
^mras thin and erect; that her teeth were long and sharp as a dog's; 
lier skin of a darker color than Indians ordinarily have; eyes fiery and 
sunken ; in short, he described her as like the devil, which she must have 
been. If this cazique told the truth, it cannot be a matter of doubt that 
the Indians were in connection with him. When the council was over, 
the old woman entered within the crater, and never came out except to 
a new council The Indians often converse about this superstition, and 
many others ; and in their books they represent the devil with as much 
leauness and with as many queues as we are in the habit of painting him 
at the feet of the archangel Michael, or the apostle St Barthelemy. I 
am of the opinion, therefore, that they have seen him, and that he has 
shown himself to them; since they place his image in their temples, 
where they perform their diabolical idolatries. On the side of the crater 
of Masaya there is a large heap of cups, plates, and basins, of excellent 
crockery, made in the country. Some had been broken, others were en- 
tire. The Indians had brought them' there filled with all kinds of meat^ 
and left them, saying they were for the old woman to eat^ in order to 
please or appease her when an earthquake or violent tempest takes 
place ; for they attribute to her all the good or evil that happens to them. 
As to the substance, in which, according to the cazique, this old one made 
her retreat, it appeared to me to resemble glass, or the metal of bells in 



224 NICAKA.QnA— HABBATTTE. 

• state of fiuioa The bterior walls of the enter are of hard stoae b 
■ome plaoM, but brittle almost ererrwhere. The smoke goes from thit 
enter on tlie eastern mde, but it is drifeti towards the west bj the breezoL 
A. sm^ qnantitj of smoke comes oat od the northern side of the ci«ter. 
" The mountain of Masaya is ux or seven leagues from the South Bea, 
and about twelve sod a half degrees from the Equator. I have now 
completed all I promised to say in this fifth chatter." 

Oriedo also giyea hb a long and entertaining accotint, at 
second hand, of the descent of the Fraj Bias del Castillo 
into the crat«r of Maseya, and what befel him there. This 
will be found translated in another place. 




CHAPTEE VIII. 

'CA.ainncDiT yiews of sceneht — " relox del sol** — johk jones and antiqui- 

TSMB — AN " ALARM ;" RET0LYER8, AND A RESCUE — DISTANT BELLS — DON PEDRO 
BLANOO — MANAGUA — ^ANOTHER GRAND ENTREE — 017R QUARTERS — SUPPER 
flOTIOl — ^ENAOTINO THE UON — YIBTUES Of AGUARDIENTE — ^AN '^ OBSEQUIO" 
OR TORCB-UGBT PROCESSION IN HONOR OF THE UNITED STATES — A NATIONAL 
ANTHEM — NIGHT WITH THE FLEAS — FOURTH OF JULY AND A PATRIOTIC BREAK- 
FAST — SAINT JONATHAN — LEAVE MANAGUA — MATEARE8 — PRIVILEGES OF A 
"OOMPADRE" — LAKE OF MANAGUA — A MAGNIFICENT VIEW — ^THE VOLCANO OF 
MOMOTOMBO A SOLITART RIDE — GEOLOGICAL PUZZLE — NAGAROTE — ^TIIE POSA- 
DA — ^MULES ABANDONED— A SICK CALIFORNLAN — DINNER AT A PADRE's — THE 
SANTA ANITA — ^VIRTUES OF A PIECE OF STAMPED PAPER — A STORM IN THB 
FOREST — PUEBLO NUEYO— FIVE DAUGHTERS IN SATIN SHOES — UNBROKEN 
SLUMBERS — ADVANCE ON LEON — ^AXUSCO — ^A FAIRY GLEN — THE GREAT 
PLAIN OF LEON — A "tOUCH" OF POETRY — MEET THE AMERICAN CONSUL — A PRE- 
DICAMENT—CAVALCADE OF RECEPTION — NEW ILLUSTRATION OF REPUBUCAN 

smpLicmr — el convento — a metamorphosis — the bishop of Nicaragua — 

FORREST, MISS CLIFTON, MR. CLAY CRITICISM ON ORATORY — NINE VOLCANOES 

IN A ROW — DISTANT VIEW OF THE GREAT CATHEDRAL — THE CITY — IMPOSING 
DEMONSTRATIONS — ^THE GRAND PLAZA — A PANTOMIMIC SPEECH AND REPLY — 
THE LADIES, ^' GOD BLESS THEM I" — HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL — ^ENDOF 
THE CEREMONIES — SELF-CONGRATULATIONS THEREON — A SERENADE — ^MARTLAL 
ASPECT OF THE CITY — TROUBLE ANTICIPATED — PRECAUTIONS OF THE GOVERN- 
MENT. 

Beyond the " mal pais" the road passed over a beautiful 
Xindulating country, with occasional open, grassy spaces, dot- 
ted here and there with little clumps of bushes and trees, 
firom whence the eye caught glimpses of the distant lakes 
and mountains. For many miles, scoria and disentegrating 
lava showed the extent of volcanic action in ancient times ; 
in iact, for the whole distance to Managua, volcanic traces 

29 



226 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

and products were to be seen on every hand. Half way be- 
tween Masaya and Managua we came suddenly upon a large, 
erect stone, which, at first glance, I supposed was one of the 
" piedras antiguas" of the country ; a veritable monolith, like 
those discovered by Mr. Stephens at Copan. It however 
proved to be " un relox del sol," an ancient sun dial, erected 
by the early Spaniards for the double purpose of marking 
the distance and the hours. There had been an inscription 
upon it, but it was obliterated now, and a rude cross had 
been deeply graven in its place. I dismounted to examine 
it more* closely, and found " John Jones" scratched upon one 
of its sides. Ubiquitous " John Jones !" He had been con- 
victed of bigamy, and sent to the State prison but two days 
before I left New York I W. inquired if " Jones" was an 
Aztec name, and I felt cheap enough about " monuments," 
and was mounting again in great disgust, when we were aU 
startled by the sudden discharge of a pistol, in a dark ravine 
which we had just passed, followed by a confused shout, and 
another discharge, and then a volley in quick succession. 
An attack, in the present unsettled state of the country, was 
by no mcims an impossibility ; and the firing continuing, we 
turned our horses' heads and galloped back, weapons in 
hand, to the rescue. A moment brought us within view of 
half a dozen of our party, their horses plunging in dire con- 
fusion, while their riders fired their revolvers with the great- 
est rapidity into the forest. Glancing amongst the trees, we 
discovered the enemy, a troop perhaps thirty or forty strong, 
crashing amongst the bushes, in full retreat. It was a squa- 
dron of large, yellow monkeys upon which the party had 
fired, in frolicksome mood, with a design rather to alarm 
their comrades than injure the monkeys, who escaped with 
no further damage than a prodigious fright, sufficient to last 
them for the remainder of their natural lives. The cacchina- 
tory exercises following upon such a feat over, we all moved 
on together. The road was deeply shaded, but broad and 



A GRAND ENTREE. 227 

smooth ; and, as the sun went down, conversation gradually 
ceased, and the horses, invigorated by the cool atmosphere, 
all fell into a rapid pace, the clatter of their hoofs alone dis- 
turbing the silence of the evening. 

Hark, a bell I the sound vibrating even into the depths of 
the leafy forest I It is the oracion, and we are near Managua. ^ 
But iUwas nearly an hour before we emerged into the open 
fields surrounding the city, and then it was so dark that we 
could discern nothing except the lights of the houses, and 
the occaaional gleaming of the lake beyond. 

Here we were met by Don Pedro Blanco, to whom I was 
specially recommended by Don Frederico. He had come to 
put his " pobre casa" at my disposition. Don Pedro was for 
doing things in a grand way, and accordingly desired us to 
wait for all the stragglers to come up, so as to make an im- 
posing entr^, which we did, at a round pace, to the great 
alarm of the infantile, and the utter indignation of the ca- 
Qiue portion of the population. It was too dark to see much 
of the town, and I only remember interminable streets lined 
with huts and low houses, a big church with a spectral white 
^hway in front, and a great plaza flanked by two or three 
two-story buildings, with another large church in its centre. 
All this was out of our way, for Pedro was determined to 

• 

iJnpress us with the magnitude of the town, and I began to 
think that it had no end, when suddenly Pedro turned short, 
ducked his head, and dashed beneath the " Porteria" into 
the patio or court yard of his own house, whilst our escort 
filed ofi^ at a tearing rate, for the public posada. Fortunate 
escort! 

Don Pedro's house was not the most aristocratic in the 
place, nor yet the cleanest, although his wife was amongst 
the fattest and fairest. It had but two rooms, and one of 
these was a tienda, or store, where our hostess dispensed can- 
dles and candy, dry goods and dulces, toys and tobacco, 
Vegetables and medicines, in quantities to suit purchasers. 



228 NICARAaUA— NARRATIVE. 

Here a couple of new hammocks were forthwith swung, into 
which we rolled without ceremony, and with all the satis&o- 
tion of tired men. Pedro's grand entr6e had almost finished 
us ; but he had considerately ordered supper before leaving 
home, and I almost forgave him the awful trot he had given 
us, when I saw the cloth spread and the savory dishes make 
their appearance one by one. M., who had never before rid- 
den two consecutive miles on horseback, and who, thoroughly 
" used up," had lain like a log in his hammock, began now 
to show some signs of life, and even sat up and looked vo- 
raciously at the table. I asked for a basin of water before 
flitting down, which Don Pedro produced at once, but pro- 
tested against our washing ourselves then, as it was " muy 
malo," and would bring on the calentura, or fever. This 
superstition, I afterwards found, was not only general amongst 
the natives, but also amongst foreigners resident in the coun- 
try. I however never regarded it, and yet escaped the 
calentura. 

Pedro's supper was well enough served, only there were 
neither knives nor forks. Ben supplied these from his aZ- 
forjas^ and we got on very well, or rather might have done 
so ; but before we had fairly taken the edge off our appetites 
we heard a great uproar in the direction of the plaza, suc- 
ceeded by the firing of guns and the whizzing discharge of 
bombas. I glanced round at our host, who so fur from ex- 
hibiting any alarm seemed to be mightily exultant. I had 
made up my mind to be surprised at nothing, and so asked 
no questions. Meantime the tumult increased, and the 
squeaking of violins was to be heard in the pauses of the 
shouting and firing. By-and-by we distinguished " Vivan los 
Estados Unid/jsr " Vivan los Americanos del Xorte T and the 
appalling consciousness was forced upon us that we were to 
be lionized forthwith, and supper but half finished ! I ap- 
pealed to Pedro to shut the door and say we were ill, and 
would see the people in the morning ; but he either did not 



.AN OBSEQUIO. 229 

imdeiBttnd, or affeeted not to do so, and before I could ex- 
plam, the crowd was at the entrance, and pouring into our 
apartment. The alcaldes came first, and a dozen fiddlers fol- 
lowed. Then came the people in solid column, while the out- 
fflders kept up a perfect storm of vivas, — their upturned, swar- 
thy laces looking singularly wild and forbidding under the 
light of their torches. Not a tithe was able to enter, yet every 
one seemed determined to find a place inside, and crowded 
one upon the other to such a degree that we should have 
been suffocated outright, had not the alcaldes formed a cor- 
don around us, and kept off the crowd with their canes. 
The principal or first alcalde, made a speech, full of welcome, 
Bud well spiced with patriotism, in which he called us, and 
Bll the people of the United States, collectively and individ- 
^lally, firiends and brothers, and a great many other endear- 
^^g names, which I have forgotten ; and then everybody 
'Wanted to shake hands, and thrust them forward over the 
^eads and under the arms of the front rank, a hundred at a 
"^me. But as our visitors generally did not seem to have any 
^lear conception as to which of the party was the iQustrious 
object of their homage, I instructed my companions to shake 
^I the hands within their reach, and pass the owners on. In 
this wise, and by causing Pedro to invite the entire crowd to 
drink ray health, at my expense, at the next pulperia^ I 
finally succeeded in clearing the house, — ^but our chocolate 
Was cold, and some of our worthy visitors had availed them- 
selves of the " noise and confusion " to pocket all the baked 
meats. And as we sat disconsolately waiting for more to be 
cooked, we voted the system of lionizing a bore, and M. 
quoted Shakspeare : 

'< Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," 

with variations suited to our present condition. 
The idea of getting the crowd off to the pulperia we all 



280 NICARAGUA— NARBATIVB. 

thought was a particularly happy one ; but the sequel proved 
otherwise. In half an hour our admiring friends, greatly 
augmented in numbers, all returned ; and if they were fer- 
vent and enthusiastic before, what were they now? I ap- 
peared on the steps of the house and bowed low, and retired. 
But bows wouldn't answer. Nothing short of a grand pro- 
cession would furnish an adequate vent to. the overflowing 
feelings of the citizens, Pedro begged for my flag, while 
messengers were despatched to the Californians at the po- 
sada, to solicit their participation in the grand " obsequio." 
Pending the completion of the arrangements, the crowd con- 
tinued to increase, completely choking up the street for an 
entire block. The confusion was dire ; the violinists played 
as if working for their lives, while bombas were let off as&st 
as they could be collected. Finally, the Californians, re- 
freshed by an ample supper, made their appearance, and at 
once fell into the spirit of the affair. The flag was unfurled 
at the head of the column, surrounded by an armed guard of 
honor ; next came the officers and the musicoSj and then, as 
the programmes at home say, " the citizens generally." The 
procession marched through all the principal streets, hurrah- 
ing at every corner for " El Norte," the " bello sexo," ** Gen. 
Taylor," the " Supreme Government," in fact for nearly every- 
thing, but particularly for the " glorious flag of the North," 
The national anthem was sung in the plaza, the multitude 
joining in the chorus with almost frantic fervor, and then the 
Californians were called upon to sing the national air of the 
United States, but being hnable to give it to their own satisfac- 
tion, they sang " Dearest May" instead, with great aj)plause, 
and as Pedro afterwards told us, "con mucho espiritu," 
with great spirit ! 

It was full midnight when the " obsequio" was brought 
to a close, and our dispositions made for the night. And 
such a night ! I had now my first introduction to the kind 
of bed in common use in the country, and which I verily 



A NIGHT WITH THE FLBAS. 281 

believe was instituted as a punishment for the sins of the 
people. It consists of an ox-hide drawn, while green, tightly 
over a stout framework of wood, and afterwards elaborately 
polished, so as to look like the head of a drum When dry, 
a slab of marble is a s«ft and downy thing in comparison 
with it It was on such a bed as this, with a smooth and 
gaudily colored "petate," or mat, and a single sheet spread 
over the hide, that I was invited to repose. I examined this 
new instrument of torture narrowly, and finally turned in^ 
with heavy misgivings, particularly as I found that Pedro's 
mansion was full of fleas, which had already set my nerves 
on a gallop. I was weary enough, but it was impossible to 
sleep — ^the fleas came in hungry squadrons, and the hide bed 
grew momentarily more rigid and obdurate. I felt my own 
pulse; it was up to the fever rate, and I began to wish Don 
Pedro and Don Frederico to regions unmentionable for get- 
ting me into such a scrape. A bed on the ground, with my 
saddle for a pillow and the sky for a roof, would have been 
luxury itself, compared with this. I got up, unbarred the 
door, and went out on the corridor. The cool evening air 
was most welcome, and I vowed audibly not to go inside 
again. So I roused Ben, who strung me a hammock be- 
tween the columns of the corridor, in which I succeeded in 
getting an hour or two of slumber. 

When morning came, I told Don Pedro that it was the 
anniversary of American Independence, and that it was 
meet and becoming to breakfast with the rest of the Ameri- 
cans at the posada. And leaving Ben to bring round the 
animals and baggage, I got away as fast as possible from 
Don Pedro's hospitable but awfully flea-infested dwelling. I 
found the posada a very nice place indeed, and had the sat- 
isfaction of learning that each one of the Califomians had 
had a comfortable cot or camp bed, with only a reasonable 
amount of fleas. 

We all breakfested together, and drank patriotic toasts, 



282 irioA&AGUA--NABaiiTiys. 

and sai^ Yankee Doodle, and were altogether appr<^riatel7 
patriotic, to the great delectation of the quidnuncs of Manar 
gua, who gathered in crowds around the open doors and 
windows. They were properly instructed as to the nature of 
*' the day we celebrated/' that it was the great feast of St 
Jonathan ; whereupon they hurrahed for the saint, and even 
proposed to ring the church bells in his honor. But fearful 
of another '^ obsequio," we discouraged this idea, and made 
all haste to get off as quietly as possible. 

At eight o'clock we were in the saddle. It was a gorgeous 
morning, and the lake of Managua flashed brightly in our 
eyes as we rode through the grand plaza. The opposite 
shore was dim and distant, but high and rough in outline, 
while nearer, a volcanic ridge, or succession of volcanic peaks, 
projected boldly into the lake, forming a sort of bay, at the 
head of which Managua was situated. A broad, well-beaten, 
and level avenue led out from the city, lined on both sides by 
forests, into which paths diverged in every direction. The 
road was filled with men and women going to their day's 
labor in the fields ; and from their cheerful, &ank air and 
manner, it was easy to see that we were beyond "war's 
alarms." At the distance of two leagues we came to the 
foot of the ridge which 1 have already mentioned, rising 
abruptly before us. Here, under a gigantic cebia, girths 
were tightened, and preparations made for the ascent, which 
is by a broad path, partly cut in the hill and built up with 
masonry. This road was constructed by Gen. Mufloz, to 
avoid the circuit of the camino real, or cart road, and is cre- 
ditable to its originator. The ascent was laborious, but the 
toil was repaid by the views which we caught of the lake 
and its shores, from places where the precipices allowed no 
foothold for trees, and whence the eye roamed finely over 
league upon league of forest and undulating hills, terminat- 
ing in the blue belt of Chontales and New Segovia. It was a 
singular position to be thus perched on the fitce of a clif^ 



HATEARA8 — ^A "COMADRS." 288 

with high, black, and frowning volcanic rocks on one hand, 
and a precipice, sheer and yawning, upon the other. 

After winding about for half an hour, we reached the 
summit, from which, upon the other side, the land fell off in 
a gentle slope. This is the only hill or mountain to be en- 
countered in the whole length of Nicaragua, between the 
lakes and the Pacific ; and this may be avoided by taking 
the circuit of the cart road. From the summit, two hours 
and a half of hard riding, over a beautiful country, brought 
us to the little village of Mateares, distinguished as being 
utterly destitute of a single object of interest It is a sort of 
half-way house in the journey from Granada to Leon, and 
has a miserable posada or two, where coflFee and tortillas may 
be obtained cheaply, and fleas gratis. We divided our party 
between the two rival establishments, and ordered water and 
sacate for the animals, preliminary to undertaking the hot 
and unprotected ride of three leagues upon the sandy shore of 
the lake, which came within the next stage of our journey. 
Don Enrique Pallais, a Frenchman, domesticated in the 
country, a man of large experience and a kind heart, who 
was of our party, had his " comadre" in the posada where 
we stopped, who embraced him affectionately as we entered. 
She was exceedingly pretty, with a mild, sweet face, and as 
she was apparently the mistress of the mansion, I felt a little 
scandalized to find Don Enrique on such familiar terms 
with her; but he explained this extraordinary relation of 
" comadre" and " compadre," to my entire satisfaction. He 
had been sponsor at the baptism of her child, a little yellow 
chap just tottering about the hoiise, and had thereby as- 
sumed the relation of compadre — a kind of second husband, 
without, however, any marital rights beyond the privilege of 
an embrace at meeting, after the manner I had witnessed. I 
afterwards observed that the fervor of the embrace bore a 
pretty exact ratio to the good looks of the seliora. The fact 
is, I am a " compadre" myself now, and the relation brings 

SO 




n 



» 



♦ 



to mind ft girlbb little creature, singing BoIUy to her batbv, 
at tliis very hour I dare say, somewhere amongst the hillsof 
San Salvatlor I 

At MiitBstrcs tbc traveller turns sutldenly to tlio right, and 
dusccuding a steep liauk uomes at once upon the shore of the 
lake. For two or three miles a belt of trues intt-rTcnea 
between the wftlor and the clifi^ heueath whieh passes the 
broad, gravelly roaiL I biul gone ahead of my companions, 
who were deeply engnpjd in the concoction of lemonades at 
the poGada, and had this part of the ride alone. I took oS 
my Iwt, and throwiug the rein upon my horse'ei neck, gav« 
myseU" up to Ihe BJlenee and the scenf. The air waa litenUly 
loaded with fragrant odors from a hundred varieties of flow- 
ore, which lilusbcd amongst thi; gi'een thickets on evcty 
band, while the waters of the lake flashed here and there be- 
tween the trees like silver bars: and brilliant hinhi, noifiy 
panots, and digntfivd macaws iu fiery plnmagii, looked down 
upon me in a familiar way, a« if I were an old jwquaintauw. 
Several portly iguanas, who were enjoying themselvea 
amongst tJie loose gravel of tbe road, seemed to be doubt- 
ta\ whether they ahouhl tiiru out, or force me to do so; and 
when they did leave tbe path, it was in a very leisurely man- 
ner, and ^itli an expression etinivalont to " wiiat a gn'ngo, to 
be riding at noonday, and disturbing respectable iguanas I" 

After riding about a league, the belt of forest terminated 
in a a few ^antic cebl-i.?, and beyond was a broad beach, tbo 
bare cliff ri«ng abruptly on oue Mt;, aud the lake npreadiuj; 
ant on the other, without &a much as a shrub to break tbo 
fervor of the tropical sun. Here a party of muleteers, return- 
ing from Lege, were taking their noonday fiesta, while the 
mules 9lraggled about at will, nibbling the green biwlies. 
Hero too, for the first tinio, came fblly in sight the great 
volcano of Momotombo, with tbconiavlishunl ofMoraotom- 
bita in front, and the broken cones of the volcano of Laa 
Pilos upon its Bank. The foreground of rocks and trees, lln , 



SHOilE OF LAKE MANAGUA. 



235 



■tVoiUiig mules and reclining figures, completed a picture 
unsurpassed, in point of novelty aud beauty by any which I 
had seen before, or have witnessed since. Its predominant 
features are very imperfectly conveyed in the accompanying 
drawing, sub8ec|uently taken from the same jxnut of view. 

The mulel«era sat up as I rode by, answering my " adios 
SeSorea" with " buen vitye, Caballem," aud tlien fell back 
in the sand again, and drew their soiubreroa over their faces. 
The Band of the beach was fetlock detp, aud covered all over 
with white and rose-colored pebbloa of pumice-atone. I 
spurred my horae up to the water, and dismotinting led him 
along its edge, amuhing myself by tosamg the light pebbles 
out upon the tiny waves, and watching them come tipping 
b.tok again, buoyant as oorks. Hundreds of wild fowl, 
cranes, herons, and walcr-hena lined the shores, or stood so- 
Uloijuizing on tho rocks and saud-spits which projected into 
the water. Tlii-y had the courtesy to give me tbo road 
as I walked along, but hardly anything more ; and only 
qaculated " cluck 1" when I shouted at them, which 1 sup- 
pose meant " don't be kicking up a row here, at noonday." 
In fact I began to think that all nature, animate and inani- 
mate, had entered into a grand compact to take a quiet 
snooze at this prci-ise hour every day. The lake itaelt 
seemed dreaming, and the smoke from MomutJHnbo rose in 
Bueh & sleepy way, that I almost felt drowsy in watching it. and 
should certainly have Iain down in the sand and token a nap, 
had there been a tree or bush to protect me from the hot sun. 
My only altemalive was therefore to jog on, which I did 
until I came to a place where the cliff projected fbrwanl 
almost to the water's edge. Here I paused, and looked back 
for my companions, but they were not to be seen. 

Beyond this point the lake formed a Utile bay, and rocks 
worn into fantastic sbaiws by tho water supplanted the sandy 
beach. These rocks seemed to be composed of a kind of 
volcanic breccia, for fragments of pumice-stone, bits of primi- 



286 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

tive rock, and an occasional large piece of trachyte were vis- 
ible in the white and slightly porous masses. Yet, at a little 
distance, stratified sand rock appeared, overlying the breccia, 
and anon a vein of basaltic or trachytic rock, or a frowning 
heap of rough, black, and blistered masses of these materials, 
superimposed on the sand rock or conglomerate, would com- 
pletely confound my uneducated notions of geological pro- 
priety. I presume all this apparent confusion is of easy 
explanation amongst those versed in the natural sciences ; 
and if (as is more than likely) these can make nothing out of 
my description, they had better go there and examine for 
themselves. Geologically, as well as geographically and 
topographically, there is no more interesting region than that 
of Nicaragua, nor one which can better repay the investiga- 
tions of the student of nature. 

I continued beneath the broiling sun for nearly a league 
further, passing through patches of chapparal, or thorny 
bushes, resembling the willow in the shape and color of their 
leaves, which found a precarious hold amongst the rocks and 
in the barren sands. Beyond these the track divided, one 
branch running up a ravine into the woods, and the other 
keeping along the lake. I was at a dead loss as to which to 
take, and did not much relish the idea of sitting there solus 
until the party came up. AVhile in this perplexity I heard 
the crowing of cocks in the direction of the ravine, and riding 
in, soon found myself in a broad path which led to a cluster 
of huts, situated so as to command a full view of the lake, 
without being seen from the shore. I despatched one of the 
niflos, imder promise of the magnificent reward of one medio, 
to watch for my companions, and tossing the bridle to a mozo, 
walked into the best hut and took possession of the best ham- 
mock, which a motherly old lady undertook to swing back- 
ward and forth for me, while I should endeavor to compen- 
sate myself for my broken slumbers of the preceding night 
Sleep came without coaxing, and I had a grand siesta there 



NAGAROTE AND ITS POSADA. 237 

amongst those kind Indians. I was roused by our comi" 
sario, who was hurrying on to order dinner for us at Nagarote, 
and I determined to push on with him. He had seduced one 
of the party to take his old mule, and had now got the best 
horee in the company, my own excepted. It was a sharp 
proceeding, as will be seen in the sequel. 

The ride to Nagarote was a fine one ; in places the road 
came down to the lake, and then wound back again amongst 
the hills, aflfording a most agreeable diversity to the traveller. 
At one place we reached a small valley, at the bottom of 
which flowed a limpid, rippling little stream — ^the only one we 
had encountered since we left Granada. The ground was beaten 
hard, and the underbrush removed over a wide space, for this 
was a famous resting place with the carreteros and arrieros. 
Two or three little groups of travellers were now waiting 
there, mixing their cups of tiste from the stream, while 
their animals were left to roam at discretion. They invited us 
to join them, but with the prospect of a good dinner only 
one league ahead, we declined, and galloped on, and on, until 
I began to think that our going to Nagarote was a grand 
flam, or that the town itself had walked oflF. That fiimous 
league we ever aftewards distinguished as the " five mile 
league." We nevertheless finally came to Nagarote, a little 
scurvy looking town, redeemed by but one really good look- 
ing house, which I was glad to learn was the posada. The 
landlady was " fat and forty," and welcomed us right cor- 
dially ; she liked the Americans, she said ; they had " mucho 
dinero," much money, and paid double what other folks did, 
without grumbling. I ordered the best dinner she could 
afford for the entire party, and then took to the hammock 
again, to catch another installment of sleep. It was full 
an hour before the remainder of the party came dropping in, 
one by one, for the order of march had been completely 
broken up, after leaving Matearas. Dinner was almost ready, 
but yet three or four were missing. Finally these arrived, 



288 NICARAGUA— NARRATIYX. 

two of them on foot, and holding one of their companions ib 
his saddle. He was the verdant young gentleman who had 
exchanged his horse for the mule of the oomisario, which 
had completely broken down some two or three leagues back, 
and had been abandoned in the woods. He had attempted 
to walk the rest of the way, but the exercise brought on 
chills and fever. He was put to bed, bathed with brandy, 
and wrapped in blankets, and having perspired freely, came 
on next morning, all the better apparently for the attack. 

I dined with Don Enrique, at the cane-built house of a 
poor priest, with whom he was acquainted. The padre was 
absent, but his housekeeper, a tall, pale woman, with large, 
expressive black eyes, welcomed us very cordially. She had 
about her some fifteen or twenty little children, collected 
from the poorest families, to whom she taught reading and 
writing. Her humble dwelling was destitute of a single 
article of luxury or embellishment, unless a fiinely painted 
fece of the Virgin, suspended over a little altar in an inner 
room, can be called such. I asked her if she was paid foi 
her pains ? She shook her head, and her eyes kindled and 
her brow expanded, as she slowly raised her face to heaven ; 
her reward was there. How little do the sectaries and bigots 
of our own country know of the devotion, and fervent, 
unselfish piety of many of those whom they so unsparingly 
denounce as the impure ministers of a debased religion I 
When I last passed through Nagarote, I called to see the 
gentle teacher, but the hut was deserted, and rank weeds 
were growing around it. I inquired for her at the posada; 
the old lady did not answer me, but her eyes filled with 
moisture. The Santa Anita was dead ; she had gone to the 
reward for which she had striven ; the reward of the meek 
and the lowly in spirit ! Shall I confess it ? The heretic 
stranger dropped a tear to the memory of the Santa Anita. 

We experienced great tribulation in Nagarote in getting 
animals to replace two or three of the scurvy mules which 



YIBTUSS OF A QOYEBNICENT ORDEB. 289 

had been imposed upon us in Qranada, and which were here 
unanimously condemned. We told the man whom the em- 
prestador had sent with them, that he must supply their 
places ; but he couldn't. All the horses and mules in the 
place had been sent to the fields, to prevent their being 
seized for the use of the army. " No hay, Seiior I" there are 
none, was the invariable response to our inquiries. But we 
were bound to get on; so I instructed our comisario to 
produce the government order, which he carried in his 
pocket, and take it to the first alcalde, with my compliments, 
and the intimation that horses must be forthcoming, or his 
name should be faithfully reported to the " Gobiemo Supre- 
mo." The eflfect was magical ; horses, and good ones, ap- 
peared incontinently ; whereupon I conceived a high respect 
for the dingy bit of paper which had wrought the miracle, 
and copied it for the benefit of future travellers. Here it is : — 

Sebastian SdlinaSy Ministro de Reladones del Supmo. Oobno. del Estado de 

Nicaragua. 

De orden del mismo^ hago saber a todas las autoridades de los pueblos 
del transito de esta Ciudad a la de Granada, q. el Sr. Oficial Don Jose Do- 
lores Bermudez, & la cabeza de nueve o diez Norte- Americanos, va & con- 
ducir & esta dicha Ciudad al Exmo. Sr. Jorge Squier Mntro. Pleinpoten- 
ciario del Gobno. Supmo. de los Estados Unidos del Norte cerca del de 
Nicaragua residente en Granada. Ordeno y mando a las espresadas auto- 
ridades del transito q. no les pongan embarazo a dichos Sres, 7 ademas en su 
regreso con el Sr. Squier le guarden i este los respetos y consideraciones 
q. exije su alto caracter. 

Dado en Leon, Sellado con el Sello del Estado, en la Casa de Grobna 

a los 28 dia del mes de Junio, de 1849. 

Les prestaran los recursos que necesi- ) . , g g^n^j^g^ 

ten previa mdennizacion. ) 

It was late in the afternoon, and dark thunder clouds were 
gathering in the east, clustering around the bald, burned peak 
of Momotombo, when we started from Nagarote for Pueblo 
Nuevo, where we were to pass the night. The winds were fitful, 
but cool and refreshing, and I unstrapped my poncho and threw 



240 NICABAQUA— NABBATIYS. 

it over the saddle bow, preparatory to encountering the storm 
that was closing around us. It came, fierce and blacki before 
we had accomplished a single league of the five which inter- 
vened between the two villages. In an instant we were 
enveloped in the thick darkness, and the rain poured down 
in torrents. We could distinguish each other only when the 
lightnings blazed lividly around us. We left the horses to 
their own guidance, only taking care not to be dragged from 
our seats by the projecting limbs and overhanging branches, 
which constitute the chief source of danger in travelling in 
these countries ih the night-time. The road became one pool 
of water, and the unshod horses slipped constantly, in a way 
not at all calculated to quiet one's nerves. By-and-by the 
storm passed, rushing forth upon the expanse of the Pacific, 
and the full moon glanced through the rifts of the passing 
clouds, in a strange, fitful way, momentarily revealing tall 
spectral trunks and skeleton branches, and then leaving us 
in utter darkness. It was a wierd looking forest through 
which we passed, and the entire party seemed to catch its 
gloomy influences, and rode on, for more than hour, slowly 
and in silence. Suddenly, however, the spell was broken by one 
of the number striking up " Hail Columbia ;" the others joined 
spontaneously in the chorus ; and when it was done, a great 
shout was given, and every horse was spurred into a gallop, 
spite of mud and water, nor was a rein drawn until, emerging 
from the forest, we found ourselves saluted by a myriad 
dogs in the streets of Pueblo Nuevo. Here we were met by 
two or three Americans who had started with the escort, but 
had been left here in charge of one of their number who had 
been injured by a foil. Anticipating our arrival, they had 
secured places for us in the village, quartering one detach- 
ment here and another there, in true military style. The 
house assigned to rnc and my personal companions was the 
most imposing and aristocratic mansion in the place, inas- 
much as it was twice as large as any other, plastered with 



PUSBLO NUEYO. 241 

mudy and wliitewashed withaL It was occupied by a well- 
dressed Seflora and her five daughters, .aU attired in their 
finest array, with satin slippers, and their dark hair newly 
braided, and tipped out with a bunch of variegated ribbons. 
Upon one side of the principal apartment was an immense 
hollowed log, which was the granary ; and upon the other a 
wax figure of Christ on the cross, surrounded by weeping 
Marys and bearded Bomans, superabundantly tinselled ; the 
whole enclosed in a large glass case, hung round with chap- 
lets of fresh flowers. The five daughters were evidently put- 
ting their best feet foremost, but seemed to be greatly per- 
plexed as to which was " El Ministro." Bespattered with 
mud, wayworn and weary, none of the party looked particu- 
larly imposing, and I thought I could discover symptoms of 
disappointment amongst the seSoritas. They nevertheless 
were attentive, and gave us cigaritas all round, and brought 
coals in a silver cup for us to light them by; and what was 
better, they gave us a capital supper, with knives for three, 
and forks and spoons for four of the eight who sat down at 
the table, which was rather more than the usual aDowance. 
Before we had finished, however, the alcalde came, but we 
declined talking until supper was over ; and meantime the 
municipal dignitaries perched themselves on the big log, and 
looked at us in silence. We were getting very indijfferent to 
official attentions ; and so dismissed our visitors with all 
practicable expedition, but with a great profusion of compli- 
ments, which they seemed to relish mightily. 

I got a bed with a canvass bottom, and slept dreamlessly the 
entire night, and until eight o'clock the next morning. The 
atmosphere was all the clearer for the storm of the preceding 
evening, and the village looked particularly bright and cheer- 
fiil under the morning sun. Differing from the other towns 
which we had passed, each house was here surrounded by a 
hedge, or rather fence, of the columnar cactus, which in some 
places was low and even, but in others shot up to the height 

81 



242 NICABAaUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

of fifteen or twenty feet, resembling palisades, above which 
just appeared the. thatched roo& of the dwellings. "A 

great country, this," said W , " where they plant their 

fences I " 

We were now within eight leagues of Leon, and, with the 
whole day before us, were not so expeditious in our move- 
ments as we might have been under other circumstances. 
We break£a^d leisurely, and departed with becoming de- 
liberation. Beyond Pueblo Nuevo, the road, as usual, was 
through a forest. With here and there open spaces called 
^^jicarales" from the jtcara^ or calabash trees, that were scat- 
tered over them, and which in size, and the appearance of 
the leaves and fruit, resembled the apple trees at home. 

The broad and well beaten road, hard and smooth from the 
rain of the preceding night, was lined with palms and trees 
covered with blossoms, which loaded the air with their rich 
perfumes, and from which the white and rose-tinted petals 
fell like snow, beneath the touch of the cool morning breeze. 
Here a group of monkeys looked down upon us with queer 
grimaces — there a flock of parroquets, nestling ^rrfu amongst 
the leaves, dashed wildly away upon our approach, while 
pigeons, and red-legged partridges graciously condescended 
to step out of the way and allow us to pass, without, how- 
ever, exhibiting the slightest degree of alarm. Hundreds of 
lizards, bright green and gold, darted like rays of light before 
us ; and large ants, each bearing a fragment of a green leaf 
above its back, marched across the path in solid columns, like 
fairy armies with their tiny banners. Their nests, built in the 
forks of the trees, resembled large bee-hives, and their paths, 
from which all obstacles were removed, for the width of sev- 
eral inches, could be traced by the eye in every direction 
amongst the bushes. 

We rode briskly along, and in less than two hours came to 
a ravine, shut in by high banks, and descended by a series of 
steep steps which would have been deemed utterly impractica- 



THE BAYINE OF AXU8C0. 243 

ble at home, but which seemed to be quite a matter of course 
to the horses here. This place was called Axusco ; and the 
ravine once entered, it was picturesque beyond description. 
The soil seemed moister than on the higher ground, and the 
verdure was correspondingly rich and dense. Masses of 
vines, leaves, and flowers were piled one on the other in the 
utmost luxuriance, and the shadows fell with a breadth and 
depth seen nowhere except under the tropics, and rarely 
equalled even there. It was a suspicious place nevertheless ; 
and one or two dilapidated crosses, hardly visible amongst 
the undergrowth, showed that it had been the scene of tragic 
events, of robbery and murder. I afterwards often passed it 
in the night, but never without my hand on my sword-hilt 

We rested awhile at Axusco, then spurring up the oppo- 
site bank, resumed our march. The same forest shut us in, 
but paths, diverging here and there to distant estates and 
haciendas, gave evidence that we were approaching the city 
of Leon. Finally we arrived where the trees became more 
scattered, and through occasional openings we caught con- 
fused glimpses of broad fields, green hills, and towering vol- 
canoes. These glimpses revealed a section of country sur- 
passing in its capabilities any we had yet seen. I hurried 
on impatiently, and in a few moments, emerging from the 
forest, the great plain of Leon opened grandly before me ! 

I had left my companions behind, and stood alone on the 
borders of this ocean of verdure. Stretching away, che- 
quered with hedge-rows and studded with tree clumps and 
tall palms, the eye traversed leagues on leagues of green fields, 
belted with forests, and bounded on the rif^ht bv high moun- 
tains, their regular cones rising like spires to heaven, while 
low hills of emerald circled round on the left, like the seats of 
an amphitheatre. In front the view was uninterrupted, and the 
wearied eye sought in vain to discover its limit A purple 
haze rested in the distance, and beneath it the waves of the 



244 NIGABAGUA — NABRATIVB. 

great Pacific rolled in, unbrokenlj, from China and the 
Indies I 

It was the beginning of the rainy season, and vegetation 
had shot up in renewed youth and vigor ; no dust had yet 
dimmed the almost transparent green of the leaves, nor had 
the heat withered the delicate blades of grass and spires oi 
maize which carpeted the level fields, nor the young tendrilE 
which twined delicately around the branches of the trees, oi 
hung, blushing with buds and flowers, from the parent stem* 
Above all shone down the glorious sun, and the whole broad 
expanse seemed pulsating with life beneath its genial rays. 

Never before had I gazed upon a scene so grand and 
magnificent as this. Well and truly has the ancient chron- 
icler described it as "a country plain and beautiful, full of 
pleasantness, so that he who fared therein deemed that he 
journeyed in the ways of Paradise." The impression pro- 
duced upon my companions, who had in the meantime 
joined me, was not less striking than on myself. We had 
heard much of the great plain of Leon, but the reality fiir 
surpassed the anticipations which we had formed of its 
extent and beauty. As we rode on, however, we were sm> 
prised to find that, although a great quantity of land was 
cleared, not more than half of it was really under cultivation ; 
a remark which we had subsequently frequent occasion to 
make, for agriculture, since the independence, owing to the 
unfortunate condition of the country, has very much de- 
clined. 

We had anticipated some kind of demonstration upon our 
arrival in Leon, and remembering our plight at San Carlos, 
had fixed upon " El Convento," about four miles from the 
city, as the place where we should make the necessary 
changes in our garb, preparatory to encountering the digni- 
taries and citizens of the capital. The convent wa.s yet a 
league in advance, and meantime we wore the soiled and 
mud-bespattered garments with which we had passed through 



PJiAIN OF LEON— AN KNCOUNTEB. 246 

the stonn of the preceding night We had not gone fiur, 
however, into the open plain, before we discovered a party 
of horsemen galloping rapidly towards us. As they ap- 
proached, we perceived that some wore military uniforms, 
while the others were dressed as simple citizens. They came 
near, and one of the party, who was evidently an American, 
looked hard at us, and for a moment seemed in doubt. We 
bowed, and would have passed on, but turning short, our 
supposed countryman inquired, in English, if we had passed 
a party of Americans, and the American minister, on the 
road. The question was an awkward one ; I laughed out- 
right, and matters were taking a very ridiculous turn, when 
one of our escort opportunely coming up, introduced us to 
Dr. Livingston, American Consul in Leon, by. whom we 
were duly presented to the accompanying officers. The 
scene was sufficiently ludicrous all round, and I thought the 
seriousness of our new friends was strongly tried. I might 
have enjoyed the affiiir very much, had I not been at once 
informed that a large company of gentlemen from the city, 
a hundred or two in number, with the principal officers of 
State, and the Bishop of the church, in person, at their head, 
were coming out to meet us. But when it was added that they 
had already passed the convent, and were not half a mile 
distant, I was horrified. I entreated the doctor to ride back, 
and say that we would join them beyond the convent, but 
before the movement could be made, the whole cavalcade 
came in sight, and descrying our group, approached us at a 
gallop. There was no retreat, and we moved on in despair. 
First came the Bishop in his purple robes, splendidly 
mounted, flanked by a group of priests, and followed by a 
train of officers, in uniforms absolutely dazzling in the noon- 
day sun I ####*# 

Suffice it to say, we met, and there were congratulations, and 
welcomes, and many fine things said, — and if we did not 
leave a sufficiently distinct idea of republican simplicity on 



246 KICARAGUA— NABRATIYS. 

the minds of our new friends, it will be useless for any one 
to undertake it hereafter. They were, however, all well-bred 
caballeros, and with true Spanish politesse^ kept their gravity, 
which, W. remarked, displayed "extraordinary self-con- 
trol!" I nevertheless observed that some of the younger 
officers had occasion to wipe their faces with their handker- 
chiefs very oft«n, and were long about it But then it was 
a hot day, and they had ridden fast. 

I was, however, determined not to enter the city in my 
present plight, and when we reached the convent, excused 
myself, and left the cavalcade to proceed, promising to rejoin 
it in a few minutes. The " convento" was only an Indian 
hut, of which I incontinently, and not in the best of humors, 
took possession, politely turning the family, old ones, babies, 
pigs, and chickens, all out of doors. Ben produced the 
diplomatic suit, which I had not seen since it left the tailor's, 
and displayed extraordinary address in adjusting it Ten 
minutes sufficed to complete the transformation, but I discarded 
the chapeau^ and stuck to the broad-brimmed Panama which 
I had purchased in Granada, much to Ben's dissatisfaction, 
who was bent on retrieving the credit of the legation. 

We overtook the cavalcade a few hundred yards from 
where we had left them. They had halted beneath some 
large trees, and our escort, which had meantime come up, 
we also found on the spot, marshalled in the same order as 
when we left Granada. A dashing young officer rode up to 
me, as I approached, and begged to be permitted " to carry 
the glorious flag of El Norte," which request was, of course, 
graciously acceded to. Matters now began to take a more 
promising turn, and as per programme of arrangements, I 
found myself, with Dr. Livingston and the bishop, placed at 
the head of the procession, which formed in column, three 
deep. The Bishop, Don George de Viteri y Ungo, impressed 
me, from the first, as a man fiir above the ordinary mark, 
well informed, courteous, and affable, with manners which 



APPBOACH TO LSON. 247 

would have graced the proudest courts of Europe. I soon 
found that he had been in the United States, had travelled 
extensively in the Old World, and altogether knew more of 
men and things than could have been surmised of an eccle- 
siastic, however high in station, in this secluded part of the 
world. I was nevertheless taken a little aback, I must con- 
fess, when he inquired of me about Forrest and Miss Clifton, 
and whether they were yet on the stage. He had seen them 
both at the Park Theatre, and had been delighted, he said, 
with their acting, although he had not understood a word 
which they said. I told him that the Park had been burned, 
and that it probably would never be rebuilt, and concurred 
with him in regarding it as a " great pity." Mr. Clay, too, 
he had heard speak, and had felt all he said, without 
understanding his language. " Ah I" exclaimed the Bishop, 
" after all, there is more in the feeling of the speaker himself 
and in his manner, than in his words ; — to arouse the sympathy 
of the hearer is the true secret of oratory!" Not bad 
criticism, I thought, for Nicaragua. 

As we advanced over the plain, the cultivated fields be- 
came more numerous, and the evidences of industry more 
abundant It was yrith something, I thought, of the spirit of 
prophecy, that the Bishop swept his hand around the hori- 
2X)n and said, " We want only an infusion of your people, to 
make this broad land an Eden of beauty, and the garden of 
the world." He pointed out to me the nine volcanoes which 
skirted the plain; the gigantic Viejo; the regular Telica; 
the riven Orota, and lofty Momotombo, which now rose clear 
and distinct before our eyes ; these, said he, are the works of 
the Great Architect, and that^ the puny achievement of man I 
I looked in the direction which he pointed, and there rose 
the towers of the great Cathedral, white and massive above 
a wilderness of tiled roofs, foliage, and firuit trees. Not- 
withstanding his philosophical depreciation, I thought there 
was an expression of pride in the &ce of the Bishop, as 



248 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

his eyes rested upon this architectural wonder of Nicaragua ; 
nor was his complacency unwarranted, for the Cathedral of 
Leon is a structure not unworthy a place beside the most 
imposing sacred edifices of either continent. 

We now rapidly approached the city, and entered the 
suburbs, which corresponded entirely with those of Granada 
and Masaya. Here was drawn up the carriage of the Bishop, 
in readiness for use, in case I should prefer it. I however, 
chose to continue on horseback, and the polite Bishop com- 
mended my choice. Passing the Indian barrio, or suburb of 
Guadelupe, the people falling on their knees as the Bishop 
approached, we descended abruptly into a deep ravine, at the 
bottom of which flowed a clear and beautiful stream, and 
ascended upon the other side by a broad, graded way, paved 
with stones, into the city proper. I had merely time to 
observe that the streets were in gala dress, when the thunder 
of cannon, and the sudden pealing of the bells of the churches, 
above which those of the cathedral rose full and distinct, pro- 
claimed our arrival. " Vivan los Estados Unidos del Nortel" 
exclaimed the officer who bore my flag, as he dashed at full 
speed to the head of the column. The whole party caught the 
spirit, and echoed the "viva," and the Bishop himself waved 
his hand and cried "Adelantamosl" Onl I remember but lit- 
tle more, except a confused sound of trampling horses, shout* 
ing people, the ringing of bells, the thunder of cannon, and a 
cloud of dust, until we rode into the great plaza. Here the 
entire garrison was drawn up, who presented arms and 
cheered for the United States as we entered. The band struck 
up a martial air, and the ladies of the metropolis waved their 
handkerchiefe to us from the balconies of the House of the 
Government. We halted for a moment, and the alcalde mayor 
made a speech, which was delightfully short, but of which, 
amidst the clangor of the bells and the shouts of the multi- 
tude, I beard not a word. I responded in three sentences, 
which I presume were equally unintelligible ; and then we 



HOUSED AT LAST. 249 

moved on, amidst a dense throng, to the house of the Ameri- 
can Consul, above which the stripes and stars floated proudly 
to the breeze. It was with unmingled feelings of satisfection 
that, shaking hands with the Bishop, and bowing to the rest 
of the cavalcade, I spurred through the archway into the 
court of the Dr.'s residence, and away from the noise and the 
dust of the crowded streets. But the public curiosity was 
not yet satisfied, and the people thronged into the courtyard 
to stare at the apparition from El Norte. Nor was it until 
the gateway was closed and barred that we succeeded in 
escaping from the liftltitude, and even then the iron gratings 
of the windows were festooned with inquisitive boys, who 
seemed to hang one to another like swarming bees. Some 
considerate alcaldes, however, by a judicious application of 
their canes, finally cleared these away, and then we got an 
hour for privacy and dinner. 

High mass had been said the day before in the church of La 
Mercedes for our safe arrival, and now a Te Deum was 
chaunted in the cathedral in acknowledgement of the protec- 
tion which Heaven had vouchsafed to us. In the evening 
fireworks were let oflF in the plaza, and we were serenaded by 
the band attached to the garrison, which, to our surprise, we 
foimd. almost as efiective as any that we had ever heard. 

We found that the city was not free from the alarm which 
had existed at Granada; and although no outbreak had 
occurred in this part of the state, the government, acting on 
the principle that "precaution is the parent of safety," had 
taken the most complete measures to guard against surprise, 
and to check promptly the first indications of disorder. The 
roof and towers of the cathedral, an impregnable fortress in 
itself, were occupied by troops ; so too was the church of La 
Mercedes ; and the evacuated convent attached to it had been 
converted into a cuartel of cavalry. It was immediately 
opposite the house of Dr. Livingston, and I observed that the 
horses of the lancers were kept constantly saddled, in readi- 

32 



250 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

ness for action at a moment's warning. Advanced posta of 
troops were also established in every principal street, and 
after the eight o'clock bell had struck, there was no cessation 
of the fierce " Quien vivas f" and wakeful " J.ferto /" of the 
sentinels. 

The day subsequent to our arrival was devoted to receiv- 
ing visits firom the functionaries and leading citizens of Leon. 
Amongst them all, none impressed me more favorably than 
the Presbitero Dr. Disiderio de la Quadra, then Vicar of the 
bishopric, a man of great dignity of manners, and of a char- 
acter above the remotest taint of suspicJRn. He was accom- 
panied by a number of the dignitaries of the church, and 
spoke of his country, its wants, and prospects, with a force 
and freedom which I had little expected to hear. Indeed, I 
soon discovered that the better portion of the population 
fully comprehended the evils imder which they suflfered, and 
only required that exterior influences should be exercised in 
their favor, instead of against them, as it had been hitherto, in 
order to efiect their removal. The revolutionary spirit had 
exhausted itself, and the universal desire was now for peace 
and quiet, stability in public affairs, and moderation in their 
administration. All hoped much from the sympathy and co- 
operation of the United States, and took new energy from the 
circumstance that they had attracted the attention and awak- 
ened the interest of its government. No better evidence of 
the truth of these observations could be desired, than the 
feeling exhibited on the occasion of my official presentation, 
which took place a few days after my arrival, publicly, in 
the hall of the Government House, which was appropriately 
fitted up for the occasion. The proceedings were character 
ized by the greatest decorum, and a degree of enthusiasnj 
which it would hardly be proper for me to attempt to describe. 
Indeed, in introducing my own address on the occasion, with 
the reply of Senor Eainirez, the Supreme Director of the 
State, I am conscious that I am incurring the risk of being 



OFFICIAL RECEPTION. 251 

misnnderstood and misrepresented ; but as I have set out 
with the purpose of vindicating the public sentiment of Nica- 
ragua, not less than of making known the character and con- 
dition of its people, I conceive that I cannot do better than 
to introduce occasional documents of this kind, especially 
when they contribute to the completeness of my narrative, 
and to the imderstanding of the present posture of affidrs in 
that country. 

ADDRESS. 

" ScifOR DiRKOTOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA : 

*' I have to-day the honor of laying before you my credentials as the 
Representative of the United States of North America, near the Grovem- 
ment of this Republia The personal satisfaction which I feel upon. this 
occasion is greatly enhanced by the many evidences which I have already 
had a£forded to me, of the friendly sentiments which are entertained by 
the Government and people of Nicaragua towards those of the United 
States. I can assure you, upon behalf of my Government, that these sen- 
timents are fully reciprocated, and that it is its earnest desire to cultivate, 
in every way, the most cordial relations with this Republic Of this the 
official letters from the city of Washington, which I have now the honor 
to deliver to yourself and his Excellency the Minister of Foreign Relations, 
will give abundant evidence. 

" It shall be my aim, Sir, in my official and personal intercourse vnth 
the Government and people of this State, not only to confirm the present 
hannony and good correspondence which exist between the two Repub- 
lics, but to create new ties of friendship, and to promote a closer and 
more intimate relationship between them. They, Sir, possess common 
interests ; they both stand before the world the avowed supporters' of 
liberal principles, and the vindicators of Republican Institutions ; the true 
policy of both is the preservation of order, and the encouragement of edu- 
cation and industry at home, and the maintenance of peace abroad. It 
is proper, therefore, that they should present an example of that fraternity 
which it is the desire of my Government, as I know it is of your Excel- 
lency, should exist between the two Republics. 

" To this end, and to secure the permanent welfare of both, it is essential 
that they should pursue a system of policy exclusively American. In the 
language of an eminent statesman of my own country, (whose memory is 



262 NICARAGUA— NABBATIVE. 

reverenUj cherished, and whose words are treasured with care by every 
American citizen,) ^ in order that the fabric of international connections 
between the Republics of this continent may rise, in the lapse of years, 
with a grandeur and harmony of proportions corresponding with the 
magnitude of the means placed by Providence in their power, its founda- 
tions must be laid in principles of politics and morals new and distasteful 
to the thrones and dominions of the elder world, but coextensive with the 
surface of the globe, and lasting as the changes of time.' 

" A cardinal principle in this policy is a total exclusion of foreign influ- 
ence from the domestic and international affairs of the American Repub- 
lics; and while we would cultivate friendly intercourse, and promote trade 
and commerce with all the world, and invite to our shores and to the 
enjoyment of our institutions the people of all nations, we should proclaim, 
in language distinct and firm, that the American continent belongs to 
Americans, and is sacred to Republican Freedom. We should also let it 
be understood, that if foreign powers encroach upon the territories or 
invade the rights of any one of the American States, they inflict an injury 
upon all, which it is alike the duty and determination of all to see re- 
dressed. 

"Senor Director! Providence has peculiarly favored the country of 
which you are the worthy Chief Executive. I have passed through your 
territories from the Atlantic ocean, through your rivers and magnificent 
lakes, along the bases of your lofty mountains, and over your broad and 
beautiful plains, until the wide expanse of the Pacific opens before me, 
and I can almost hear the sound of its waves as they break upon your 
western shores. At every step I have been deeply impressed with the 
capabilities of the country, and the vastness of its internal resources. I 
have seen, also, with pleasure, the many evidences of industry and civiliza- 
tion which exist within your borders, and I have been led to indulgv" 
the belief that the time is not far distant, when the commerce of two 
hemispheres shall find within your territories an easy passage from sea to 
sea. It is one of the objects of my mission to assist in an enterprise so 
important to the whole world — an enterprise, the successful prosecution 
of which must enable this country to attain a degree of prosperity second 
to that of no other on the globe. With your cordial co-operation, (of 
which I am well assured,) and of that of the citizens of this Republic, I 
hope soon to have it in my power to announce to my Government, that 
the initiatives to this grand and glorious enterprise have already been 
taken. 

" And here. Sir, you will permit me to express the profound regret 
which I feel, that I find this Republic afflicted by civil commotions. Both 



OFFICIAL RECEPTION. 258 

the principles and policy of the United States make us desire that this 
and the other Republics of Central America should be prosperous and 
powerful We feel a deep interest in their welfare, but this we know 
can only be promoted by enlightened and stable Governments. The 
enjoyment of liberty, and the maintenance of individual rights, cannot be 
secured without permanent order, and this can only spring from a sacred 
observance of law. I trust. Sir, that the patriotic citizens of Nicaragua, 
whatever their dififerences of opinion, will all unite in an earnest endeavor 
to restore peace to the State. Nothing, Sir, could give me personally 
greater satisfaction, and I am certain nothing could be more acceptable to 
the Grovemment and people of the United States, and to the friends of 
Republican Institutions throughout the world. 

" I will not, Sir, detain you further. I can only reiterate the friendly 
sentiments of my Government and countrymen, and assure your Excel- 
lency, and the distinguished officers of the State and army around you, as 
also the illustrious Bishop and reverend prelates and clergy, of my per- 
sonal high consideration and regard. Allow me also, through you, to 
return my thanks for the many kind attentions which I have received 
from the magistrates and citizens of the Republic, and to express the high 
pleasure which I have experienced in learning from my countrymen, who 
have lately been detained by unforeseen circumstances in the country, 
the uniform kindness and courtesy with which they have been treated. 
I am proud to learn that the name of American has been a passport to 
every Nicaraguan heart That the new relations which are this day 
opened between this Republic and my own, may result in lasting benefit 
to both, is. Sir, my sincere prayer, and to this end I shall direct my most 
earnest endeavors." 

To this address the Supreme Director, Seflor Don Nob- 
BEBTO Eamirez, replied as follows : 

REPLY. 

" Sir, — The satisfaction which I experience in having the honor of re- 
ceiving, for the first time, a representative of the Republic of North Ame- 
rica, is only equalled by the aspirations and high hopes which that event 
inspires. The gratitude with which your words h^ve animated me, the 
extraordinary intervention of your Qovemracnt under the circumstances 
with which Nicaragua is surrounded, impose on me the pleasing duty of 
returning thanks to Divine Providence for its benefits. 

" Nicaragua has long felt the necessity of sheltering itself under the 



264 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

bright banner of the North American Confederacy ; but the time which 
the Arbiter of nations had designated for such high happiness and conse- 
quent prosperity had not arrived. Before we despatched a Legation to 
the American Minister at Guatemala, and even before the treaty relative 
to a canal was entered into with Dr. Brown, (a citizen of your Republic,) 
we had made some advances to the American Government with a view to 
this happy consummation; but our hopes were scarcely sustained by 
their result But I now see all the elements of a happy future brought 
before us ; there is good faith in the Government with which I am con- 
nected ; the friendliest feelings towards North America pervades every 
NiOARAOUAN heart ; and we have the assurances of the sympathy and sup- 
port of the American GU)vernment We have consequently all things 
which can be desired to make available the advantages with which Hea- 
ven has surrounded us. Our State, considering its geographical position, 
ought to be the most prosperous in Spanish America ; but our inexperi- 
ence at the time of our separation from Spain — our limited resources, and 
the civil commotions that have intervened, have retarded the happy day 
which is now dawning upon us. I am certain that the Government 
which you represent^ can appreciate the difficulties which have surrounded 
this Republic. Your Excellency being able properly to estimate these 
circumstances, must already have formed a just idea of the condition of 
this part of Central America, and of the position of its Government, 
Believing therefore that the best intentions exist upon your part towards 
us, as I know there is the happiest disposition on ours, I entertain no 
doubts that we shall succeed in establishing the most intimate relations 
between the two Republics, and in opening the way to the consummation 
of that most glorious enterprise which it has been reserved for the succes- 
sors of the immortal Washington to undertake and perfect. I shall have 
the greatest pleasure in being able to contribute my humble share to- 
wards this result, and to the consequent happiness of Nicaragua. I thank 
you. Sir, and through you, your Government, for its proffered coopera- 
tion in so glorious an enterprise. 

" Let us begin, Sir, this great work under these bright auspices, and we 
shall be sure of obtaining the best results. The people of the two Ameri- 
can Continents are contemplating us ; it is possible that for what we shall 
do, future generations shall cherish our memory : at least we shall have 
the conscious satisfaction of having neglected no means, omitted no sacri- 
fice, in securing the grand objects so ardently desired by two sister Re- 
publics, determined mutually to sustain their interests, their honor, their 
integrity, and the principles of continental freedonk" 



A STRIKING INCIDENT. 265 

An incident occurred, at the dose of this reply, which per- 
haps would have startled more rigid sticklers for form and 
etiquette than were assembled on that occasion ; but which 
I mention, for the same reasons that have induced me to 
give place to the above quotations. The Director had just 
concluded his reply, and the entire assemblage was yet still 
and attentive, when a young officer, distinguished not less for 
his ardent patriotism than for his bravery in the field, and 
his usefulness as a citizen, Col. Francisco Diaz Zapata, 
advancing suddenly beyond the line of officers, commenced 
an impassioned apostrophe to the flag of the United States, 
which, entwined with that of Nicaragua, was suspended 
above the chair of the Executive. The effect was electrical, 
and the whole of the assemblage seemed to catch the spirit of 
the speaker, whose appearance, action, and language were 
those of the intensest emotion. They pressed eagerly for- 
ward, as if anxious to treasure every word which fell from 
his lips ; and when he had concluded, forgetting all other con- 
siderations, their enthusiasm broke forth in loud and pro- 
tracted " vivas," which were caught up and echoed by the 
people in the plaza, and the soldiers of the garrison. I sub- 
join a literal copy of the address: 



SALUTACION A LA BANDERA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOa 

POR 8EN0R FRANCISCO DIAZ ZAPATA. 

" I Presajio de poder j de grandeza ! 
I Ensena illustre de virtud y gloria I 
Yo te contemplo en tu sublime alteza ; 

Y al contemplarte siento 

Que de mi Patria ensalzaras la historic 
Esas franjas hermosas, 

Y el emblema feliz de tus Estrellas, 
Que ajitadas del viento 

On(leaii j relucen majestuosas 



256 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

Como astros rutilantes, y mas bellas : 
El hasta fuerte y noble, 

Y ese cuadro, del solido figura ; 

Que la herida cerviz ya, no mas doble 
Nicaragua en su triste desventura; 
Revelanme que haras con tu presencia, 
Rodeada de esplendor y de potencia. 
** Bajo tu sombra, libertad respira 
El activo Varon americano, 
Que la memoria deificar aspira 
De Washington glorioso : 
Bajo tu sombra, se alza soberano 
El poder de las leyes ; 

Y el saber y la ventura crecen 
Con vigor prodijioso, 

Que pesa sobre el cetro de los Reyes. 

Y los Heroes de America enaltecen 
Su memoria sagrada, 

Sus sepulcros, su sangre de guerreros^ 

Y el triunfo de tu espada, 

Bajo el dulce brillar de tus luceros. 
Todo bajo tu imperio tiene vida, 
Portentosa Bandera esclarecida. 
Yo te saludo de entusiasmo lleno ; 

Y henchido de placer y dc csperanza, 
Mi corazon palpita dentro el seno 
Con tan fuerte latido, 

Que el pecho ardiente a rcspirar no alcanza. 

La suave y fresca brisa, 

Del alto Sol los claros resplandores, 

El aire enrarecido, 

De los Cielos la placida sonrisa, 

Y el balsamico aliento de las flores, 
Saludante conmigo. 
Celebrando del modo mas plausible 
Tu advenimicnto amigo 

A mi Patria dolicntc y compasible, 
Llenala de tu honor y tu grandeza, 

Y abate a su advorsario la cabeza." 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE Cmr OF LEON — ORIOINALLT BUILT ON THE SHORES OP LAKE MANAGUA — 
CAUSE OF ITS REMOVAL — ITS PRESENT SITE — DWELLINGS OF ITS INHABITANTS — 
BTTLE OF BUILDING — DEVASTATION OF THE CIVIL WARS — PUBUC BUILDINGS — 
THE GREAT CATHEDRAL — ITS STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE ) INTERIOR ; MAGNIFI- 
CENT VIEW FROM THE ROOF — THE " CUARTO DE LOS 0BI8P0S," OR GALLERY OF 
THE BISHOPS — THE UNIVERSITY — THE BISHOP's PALACE — " CASA DEL GOBIER- 
no" — "CCARTEL GENERAL" — THE CHURCHES OF LA MERCED, CALVARIO, 
RECOLECCION — HOSPITAL OF SAN JUAN DE DIGS — STONE BRIDGE — INDIAN 
MUNICIPALITY OF SUBTIABA — POPULATION OF LEON — PREDOMINANCE OF INDIAN 
POPULATION — DISTINCTION OF STOCKS — MIXED RACES — SOCIETY OP LEON — 
THE females; THEIR dress — SOCIAL GATHERINGS j THE *' TERTUIJA" — HOW 
TO " BREAK THE ICE" AND OPEN A BALL — NATIVE DANCES — PERSONAL CLEAN- 
LINESS OF THE PEOPLES-GENERAL TEMPERANCE " AGUARDIENTE " — AND 

"ITALIA " — FOOD — THE TORTILLA FRIJOLKS — PLANTAINS — THE MARKETS — 

PRIMITIVE CURRENCY — MEALS — COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, AND " TISTE" — DULCES — 
TRADE OF LEON. 



The city of Leon is situated in latitude 12° 25' north, and 
longitude 86° 57' west. As I have elsewhere mentioned, it 
was founded in 1523, by Hernandez de Cordova, the con- 
queror of the country and the founder of Granada. Its 
original site was at the head of the western bay of Lake 
Managua, near the base of the great volcano of Momotombo, 
at a place now called Moabita, or, as it is spelled in the 
early chronicles, Ymbita, where its ruins still exist, over- 
grown by trees undistinguishable from those of the surround- 
ing forests. This site was abandoned in the year 1610, for 
that now occupied by the city, which was then the seat of a 
large Indian town called Subtiaba. There is a tradition that 
a curse was pronounced upon the old town by the Pope, 

83 



258 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

when he heard of the murder there, in 1549, by Hernando 
de Coutreras, of Antonio de Valdivieso, third bishop of 
Nicaragua, who opposed the cruelty and oppression towards 
the Indians practised by Contreras, and who, for this reason, 
fell under his anger. In consequence of this curse, it is said, 
the city was visited by a succession of calamities, which be- 
came insupportable ; and the inhabitants, driven to despair, 
finally, on the 2d of January, 1610, after a solemn fiist, with 
the flag of Spain and the officers of the municipality at their 
head, marched to the site now occupied by the city, and 
there proceeded to lay out a new town. The cruel and 
sacrilegious deed of Contreras is, even yet, mentioned with 
horror ; and many of the people believe that the stains of the 
blood of the bishop, who fled to the church, and died of his 
wounds at the foot of the altar, are yet visible upon its ruined 
walls, a lasting evidence of God's displeasure. 

In common with Granada, Leon suffered from the attacks 
of the pirates, during their predominance in the South Sea. 
In 1685, a party of English freebooters, amongst them the 
celebrated Dampier, landed in the Estero DoEia Paula, and 
advancing rapidly upon the city, surprised and captured it, 
notwithstanding the brave resistance of the little garrison of 
fifty men. They sacked the entire city, and burnt the cathe- 
dral, the convent of La Merced, the hospitscl, and many of 
the principal houses. 

Leon is situated in the midst of the great plain of the same 
name, which I have described, about midway between the 
lake and ocean. The choice of position seems to have been 
determined by the same considerations which influenced the 
Indians in selecting it for one of their own towns, viz. : the 
proximity of water. Upon both sides of the city are deep 
ravines, in which are a multitude of springs of pure water, 
forming perennial streams of considerable size, which unite at 
the distance of half a mile from the city. From these 
the supply of water for the town is chiefly obtained. In later 



THE CITY OF LEON. 269 

times many wells have been sunk, but they require to be of 
great depth — from one hundred and twenty to two hundred 
feet — ^and the water is not esteemed to be as good as that firom 
the ravines. 

Like all other cities under the tropics, Leon covers a large 
area of ground. It is regularly laid out, with squares or 
plazas, at intervals, in each ecclesiastical or municipal district. 
The houses, like those of Granada, are built of adobes, and 
are rarely of more than one story. Each one encloses a spa- 
cious patio or courtyard, filled with fruit or shade trees. 
Sometimes the building has an inner or back court for the 
domestic animals, while that immediately connected with the 
dwelling is ornamented with shrubbery and flowers, and sur- 
rounded on all sides by a broad corridor. This style of 
building, which is well adapted to the climate, and rendered 
necessary in a country where earthquakes are so frequent, 
admits of very little architectural display. The builder has 
no opportunity of exhibiting his taste or skill, except in the 
"jpwerto," or " zaguarC^ — ^portal, or principal entrance, — and in 
the elaboration of the balconied windows. These portals are 
often high and imposing, and profusely and tastefully orna- 
mented. Some are copies of the Moresque arches so common 
in Spain, and are loaded with ornaments peculiar to that 
style of architecture. Others are of the severer Grecian 
styles, and others of orders utterly indescribable, and emi- 
nently original. Above these arches the old aristocracy 
often placed their arms; those of a military turn carved 
groups of armor, and those piously inclined a prayer or a 
passage from the Bible. 

Formerly, very few of the buildings had more than two 
or three openings on the street, but of late years windows 
arc becoming more numerous. These windows are broad and 
high, projecting two or three feet, and are guarded by iron 
balconies. Within the balconies are seats, which in the 
evening are occupied by the sefloras, who here receive their 



260 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

visitors, and return the salutations of their passing fiiend& 
The gallant saunters from one to the other, and pays his 
devoirs without entering; an easy custom, which, in the 
early evening, gives the streets an air of great gayety and 
cheerfulness. He often carries his guitar with him, and 
sings a song when conversation flags. Sometimes the 
mounted cavalier reins in his steed before the balcony, to 
pay his compliinents to the fair occupants, — stealthily prick- 
ing the animal with his spurs, to show off his skill in man- 
aging him, and to impress the sefioras with admiration for 
his spirit They are quite up to these little tricks in Nica- 
ragua, as well as in other countries. 

The interiors of the dwellings of the better classes convey 
an idea of great comfort, in a country where room and ven- 
tilation become necessary conditions of existence. The prin- 
cipal apartments, with rare exceptions, open upon the corri- 
dor, and are also connected by inner doors. In the main 
body of the building is the grand sala^ or what we would 
call a parlor, used only for receptions, or as a sitting-room 
for the ladies. On cither side are the private rooms of the 
fiunilies, while the wings are appropriated for sleeping apart- 
ments, to the servants, and for stores. Very few are ceiled, 
but are open to the roof, allowing a free circulation of air 
between the tiles. The floors are paved with large square 
tiles or bricks, occasionally with marble, and are usually 
kept well watered. And as the windows are never glazed, 
every passing breeze enters freely, and the ventilation is 
made perfect. Meals are taken in the corridor, on the side 
most shaded from the sun ; and here hammocks are swung 
for those who choose to occupy them. The walls, both of 
the corridors and inner rooms, are sometimes painted, in 
imitation of marble or of hangings ; but owing to the lack of 
skill on the part of the artists, the effect is not usually good. 
The accompanying ground-plan will convey an idea of the 
arrangement of the various parts of a Central American 



HOUSES IN LEON. 



261 



dwelling, from which the details may be discovered without 
iorther explanation. I need only repeat that, however at 
variance with established rules of architecture in other coun- 
tries, they are probably better adapted to the climate and 
country than edifices of a more pretending character. 




Tn Leon, as in Granada, the dwellings on the outskirts of the 
city are simple cane structures, covered with thatch, but some- 
times plastered with mnd and roofed with tiles. And here, 
as in all the other towns, tlicy are embowered in trees, and 
flurronnded with cactus fences. The accompanying engrav- 
ing of a hut in the barrio of Saragossa, may be taken a« a 
type of all the others. 

The streets in the central part of the city are paved. 
The object principally had in view is the prevention of dust, 
which, towards the close of the dry season, w ahnoat unen- 
durable in the unpaved parte of the town. 

Perhaps no city in America has sufiercd more from war 
than Leon. During the contest between the ariatocrata and 



262 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

liberals which followed the declaration of independence, a 
large part, embracing the richest and best built portions, was 
destroyed by fire. Over one thousand buildings were burned 
in a single night. The great cathedral is surrounded by en- 
tire squares of ruins of what were once palaces. The lofty 
and elaborate archways, by which they were entered, stifl in- 
dicate their original magnificence. Entire streets, now almost 
deserted, are lined with the remains of large and beautiful 
edifices, destroyed in the civil wars. Within their abandoned 
courts stand rude cane huts, — as if in mockery of their 
former state. Leon was formerly one of the best built cities 
in all Spanish America. "It is," says the old traveller, 
Gage, writing in 1665, " very curiously built ; for the chief 
delight of the inhabitants consists in their houses, in the 
pleasure of the country adjoining, and in the abundance of 
all things for the life of man. They arc content," he adds, 
" with fine gardens, with the variety of singing birds and 
parrots, with plenty of fish and flesh, with gay houses, and 
so lead a delicious, lazy, and idle life, not aspiring much to 
trade and traffic, although they have the lake and ocean near 
them. The gentlemen of Leon are almost as gay and fan- 
tastical as those of Chiapas ; and it is especially from the 
pleasure of this city that the province of Nicaragua is called 
Mahomet's Paradise."* 
The public buildings of Leon are among the finest in all 

' The pirate, Dampier, in giving an account of the capture and burn- 
ing of Leon by himself and his associates, says : 

" Our countryman, Mr. Gage, who travelled in these parts, recommends 
Leon as the pleasantest place in all America, and calls it the Paradise of 
the Indies. Indeed, if we consider the advantages of its situation, we may 
Gnd it surpassing most places for healtli and pleasure in America ; for the 
country about it is of a san<ly soil, which soon drinks up all the rain 
which falls. It is encompassed with savannas, so that they have the ben- 
efit of the breezes which come from any quarter ; all of wliich makes it 
a very healthy place." — Dampier s Voyage round the World^ voL i. p. 218. 



THE GREAT CATIIEDRAL. 263 

Central America. Indeed, the great cathedral of St. Peter 
may perhaps be regarded as second to no similar structure in 
any of the Spanish American States. It was finished in 1743, 
having occupied thirty-seven years in building. The cost is 
said to have been five millions of dollars, but this seems to be 
an exaggeration. It covers an entire square, and its front ex- 
tends the whole width of the grand plaza. It is constructed 
of cut stone, and is one firm mass of masonry. The roof is 
composed of massive arches, and has all the solidity of a rock. 
Nothing can better illustrate its strength, than the fact that it 
has withstood the storms and earthquakes of more than a 
century ; and, with the exception of one of the towers, which 
during my residence in the country was struck by lightning, 
and cracked from top to bottom, it is now nearly as perfect as 
it came from the hands of its builders. Yet it has often been 
converted into a fortress, and has sustained more than one 
cannonade and bombardment from besieging forces. In 1823, 
it is said, no less than thirty pieces of artillery were planted 
on its roof On its most exposed side, towards the east, there 
is hardly a square inch of its walls which is not indented with 
shot. 

Its ornaments are of stucco, and are simple and chaste. 
Viewed from an eminence, the entire structure is very impos- 
ing, but seen from the plaza, it appears low in proportion to its 
width. The interior is not unworthy of the exterior ; but is 
comparatively bare of ornament. At the head of the principal 
aisle, beneath a lofty, spacious dome, is the great altar, com- 
posed of silver, elaborately chased. The side chapels are not 
remarkable for their richness or beauty. For, in the civil 
commotions of the country the churches have not escaped 
the rapacity of the soldiery. The cathedral was once pos- 
sessed of extraordinary wealth, and the costliness and variety 
of its ornaments were a proverb in Spain itself; but now it 
has little to boast beyond its massive proportions and archi- 
tectural design. 



264 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

I visited it shortly after my arrival, under the guidance of 
one of the canonigos, who was conscientious in pointing out 
to me everything worthy of notice. What most interested 
me, however, was a small room, in which were contained all 
the portraits of the bishops, commencing with Zuniga. 
They were forty-four in number, and displayed every variety 
of feature and complexion. The dark skins and black hair of 
some of the bishops showed that native or Indian blood had 
been no bar to ecclesiastical preferment, and contrasted 
strongly with the fair complexions of others of European 
birth. Most had an expression of great austerity ; types of 
rigorous zealots, who looked as if every sentiment and feeling 
of humanity had been rudely rooted from their hearts ; while 
others wore more cheerful tiiccs, and a few, I am sure, had 
been right jolly old fellows in their day, not averse to the 
grape, nor wholly indifferent to the smiles of beauty. 

Both the fagadc and rear of the cathedral were once orna- 
mented with the royal arms of Spain, hut these were removed 
in the first fervor of republican zoal, and their places yet 
remain blanks, — emblematic of a country which has gof rid 
of one governineni, without having as yet fully succeeded in 
establishing another in its place. 

One of the finest views in the world is commanded from 
the roof of tlie cathedral; and standing here, I saw for the 
first time the waters of the Pacific, a rim of silver on the 
edge of the western horizon. In the east bristled the nine 
volcanoes of the Afarabios, which I have already mentioned, 
their outlines shjirply defined against the sky, and in their 
regularity of outline emulating the symmetry of the pyra- 
mids. From this position alone is a good view to be obtained 
of the city, which, seen from one side, or from a distance, 
presents only a monotonous succession of tiled roofs, half- 
buried anion»rst the trees, and only relieved by the white 
walls of the ehnrches. 

To the left oC tlie cathedral, and separated only by the 



PUBLIC BUILDIXGS. 265 

street, is the *' Palacio del Obispo," the Episcopal Palace. It 
was described as follows, in 1751, by the then Bishop of 
Nicaragua, Sefior Don Pedro Augustin Morel de Sta. Cruz, 
and has changed but little since. 

'* The Episcopal Palace is situated at the corner of the principal plaza, 
contiguous to the Sagrario ; it is built of adobes and tiles, with two bal- 
conies, and is distinguished by a certain air of respectability. It is en- 
tered by a portico of good proportioas, and has not less than fourteen 
apartments, furnished and ornamented with pictures, canopies, curtains^ 
tables, silk beds, and many well-carved chairs. The principal sala and 
the oratorio are the largest; the others are proportioned to their purposes. 
They all open upon a broad piazza, running entirely around the court, 
within which is a garden, with many trees and flowers, and a fountain 
very beautiful and refreshing to the sight Back of the building is an- . 
other square for the servants, stables, etc. In short, nothing is wanted 
to make it a suitable habitation for the prelate, except a revenue suffi- 
cient to enable him to keep up a style commensurate to the edifice." 

Adjoining the palace of the Bishop, is tlic Tridentine Col- 
lege of St. Eamon, established in 1675. This institution 
was once very flourishing, and had numeroiLS students, with 
professorships of law and medicine. It has, however, shared 
in the general decadence of the country, and has now but 
little more than a nominal existence. Eftbrts have lately 
been made to revive it upon a new foundation ; and with an 
improvement in the country at large, there is no doubt it 
may regain something of its former position. 

The government house, which occupies the northern side 
of the grand plaza, is distinguished for nothing except that 
it is somewhat more lofty than its neighbors, and has a raised 
corridor extending along its entire front. Opposite to this 
is the Cuartel General, or head-quarters of the regular forces 
of the government, with a guard of soldiers constantly on 
duty ; for, in case of disturbance, this is the first place to be 
attacked, inasmuch as it is the general depository of the arms 
of the State. 

84 



266 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE, 

The churches of La Merced, the Recoleccion, and Calvario, 
are remarkable for their size and their fine fa5ades. The 
front of the latter is ornamented with panels containing 
Scriptural groups, admirably executed in bas-relief, and 
with niches containing statues of the saints. It has suflFered 
much from shot, having been twice occupied by besieging 
forces, while the superior position of the cathedral was in 
possession of the other party. The Merced has also suflfered 
from the same cause, but in a less degree. It contains some 
fine paintings, and its principal altar is an elaborate and very 
beautiful piece of composition. A convent was once attached 
to this church, as also to the church of the Recoleccion, and 
to that of San Juan de Dios. But these have been abolished ; 
and the c6nvcnt buildings of the Merced, at the time of my 
arrival, were used as cavalry barracks, while those of San 
Juan de Dios had been converted into a hospital. Besides 
the churches which I have named, there are ten or twelve 
others, but less in size, and of more moderate pretensions. 
And as each of these has a chime of bells, and nearly every 
day is dedicated to some saint, in whose honor it is essential 
to ring them all, a continual clangor is kept up, which, until 
the stranger becomes habituated to it, or is deafened outright, 
is excessively annoying. 

When to this list I have added the stone bridge across 
the ravine to the south of the city, connecting with the 
barrio de Guadelupe, I have finished the architectural nota- 
bilities of Leon. This bridge was never fully completed, 
but was boldly projected, and the arches spanning the stream 
are models of symmetry and good workmanship. 

The Indian pueblo of Subtiaba is really part of the city 
of Leon, although constituting a distinct municipality. It 
has also its grand plaza, and separate public buildings. Its 
great church is second in size to no other in Nicaragua, ex- 
cept the cathedral of Leon. The fagade is quaint, with 
numerous niches filled with figures of grim old saints. It is 



POPULATION OP LBON. 267 

sabstantially built, and has a very high antiquity. ^' The 
Parroquiai of Subtiaba," said the old Bishop, Augustin Morel, 
writing of this church in the year 1751, " is the largest and 
most beautiful in the Bishopric. The principal and side 
chapels, and baptistery, are arched, and high and ample. 
The body of the church consists of three naves ; the columns 
are of cedar, with gilt capitals. It has eight altars, four 
chapels, a neat sacristy, and is admirably decorated. Its 
towers are well proportioned, and its fagade imposing and 
tasteful, and altogether the edifice is fit for a cathedral." 

Subtiaba has suffered no less than Leon firom intestine 
wars, and is but a shadow of what it once was, when it could 
muster two thousand fighting men in its plaza at a moment's 
warning. 

It is di£5icult to form a correct estimate of the population 
of Leon. The city is spread over so wide a space, and so 
involved amongst trees that, even after a three months' 
residence, I found myself constantly discovering new and 
secluded portions, of the existence of which I was before 
ignorant. And although at first I thought twenty thousand 
an over estimate, I ultimately came to regard the number set 
doiiv'n in the census attempted in 1847, viz : thirty thousand, 
as probably nearer the truth. In this calculation I include 
the Indian municipality of Subtiaba, which is generally, but 
erroneously supposed to be a town separate from Leon. 

Here, as everywhere else in Nicaragua, the Indian and 
mixed population greatly predominates, and the pure whites 
constitute scarcely one-tenth of the whole number. The 
general complexion is however considerably lighter than at 
Granada, but not so clear as at Managua and some of the 
smaller towns. An infusion of Indian blood is easily to be 
detected in a large proportion of those who claim to be of 
pure Spanish descent. It displays itself less in the color of 
the skin than in a certain quickness of the eye, which is 
a much more expressive feature in those crossed with the 



268 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVB. 

Indians than in either of the original stocks. In respect of 
physique^ leaving color out of the question, there are probably 
no handsomer men in the* world than some of the Sambos> 
or oflfepring of Indian and negro parents. They are of course 
darker than the Indian, but taller and better developed. It 
should however be observed that the negroes of Nicaragua 
differ very widely in appearance from those of the United 
States. They must have been derived from an entirely dif- 
ferent portion of the African continent. They have, in gen- 
eral, aquiline noses, small mouths, and thin lips, — in fact, 
with the exception of the crisp hair and dark skin, they have 
few of the features which, with us, are regarded as peculiar 
and universal in the negro race. 

The fusion between all portions of the population of Nica- 
ragua has been so complete, that notwithstanding the diver- 
sity of races, distinctions of caste are hardly recognized. The 
whites, in their social intercourse, maintain a certain degree 
of exclusion, but in all other relations the completest equality 
prevails. This would not probably be the case if the white 
population was proportionably greater, and possessed the 
physical power to keep up the distinctions which naturally 
separate the superior and inferior families of men. With a 
full consciousness of their numerical inferiority, their policy 
is plainly that of concession ; and however repugnant it may 
have been originally to their pride, it has now come to be 
regarded as a matter of course, and is submitted to with a 
good grace. 

A few days in Leon sufficed to show me that, in the tone 
of its society, and the manners of its people, it had more of 
the metropolitan character than Granada. And although 
the proportion of its inhabitants who laid claim to what is 
called " position," was even here comparatively small, and 
not at all rigid in its adherence to the conventionalities of 
the larger cities of Mexico, South America, and our own 
coimtry ; yet, in the essential respects of hospitality, kind- 



SOCIETY IN LEON. 269 

ness, and courtesy, I found it entitled to a position second to 
no other community. The women are far from being highly 
educated, but are simple and unaffected in their manners, and 
possessed of great quickness of apprehension, and a readiness 
in good-natured repartee, which compensates, to a certain 
extent, for their deficiency in general information. 

The condition of the country for many years has been 
such as to afford few opportunities for the cultivation of those 
accomplishments which are indispensable accessories of re- 
fined society ; and we are therefore, not justified in subject- 
ing the people of Leon, or of any other city of Central Ame- 
rica, to the test of our standards. I can conceive of nothing 
more painful, or more calculated to awaken the interest of 
the visitor firom abroad, than the spectacle of a people, with 
really high aspirations and capabilities, borne down by the 
force of opposing circumstances, conscious of its own condi- 
tion, but almost despairing of improving it. 

In dress the women of Leon have the same fashions with 
those of Granada, but the European styles are less common, 
owing to the circumstance that there are fewer foreign resi- 
dents to infect the popular taste. They have an equal fondness 
for the cigarito ; and in the street are not less proud of display- 
ing a little foot and a satin slipper. As everywhere else in 
the world they are very attentive in their devotions, but be- 
yond their daily visit to the churches, rarely go out of doors, 
except it is in the early evening, when visits are paid inform- 
ally. If chance brings together a sufficient number, a " fer- 
tulia^" or dance, is often improvised. Set parties or balls are 
of rare occurrence, and are generally given only on public 
occasions, and then with great state and ceremony. 

We were witnesses of a tertulia at our own house^ the 
second evening after our arrival. A dozen sefioras casually 
found themselves together, a dance was proposed by the gal- 
lants loitering at the balconies, and the proposition meeting 
with &vor, they at once dispersed to bring in recraits and 



270 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

the ** mufliooB." In an hour the grand sala was filled. The 
females as they came in were all ranged on one side of the 
room, and the males on the other. This looked rather stiff, 
and I began to fear that a tertulia was no great matter after 
all. Directly, however, a single couple took the floor ; the 
music struck up, and as they moved down the room, the 
measure brought the lady first on one side, and then on the 
other. As she passed she alternately tapped a sefior and 
sefiora on the shoulder with her fan, thus arbitrarily deter- 
mining the partners, who were obliged at once to join in the 
dance. In this manner the whole party was brought to its 
feet, nolens volens, — and such I foimd was a fi:^quent mode of 
opening the tertulia. After the first set is over, the ice once 
broken, and the excitement up, the gallants are permitted to 
exercise a choice. I thought the practice a good one, obvi- 
ating a great deal of awkward diplomacy at the outset, and 
putting every one very speedily at their ease. As the even- 
ing progressed the party augmented, and before ten o'clock 
we had got together the elite of Leon. All joined heartily 
in the spirit of the affair, and when the bell of the cathedral 
tolled eleven, I think I never saw a more animated assem- 
blage. The polka and the waltz, as also the bolero, and 
other well known Spanish dances, were all danced gracefully 
and with spirit; and besides these, after much persuasion, 
we had an Indian dance, a singular affair, slow and compli- 
cated, and which left upon my mind a distinct impression 
that it was religious in its origin. After the dancing, we had 
music, but beyond the national air, which was given with 
force and spirit, I cannot say much for the singing. 

During the whole evening, the windows were festooned 
vnth urchins, and the doors blockaded by spectators, who 
when they were particularly pleased, applauded tumultu- 
ously, as if the whole affair had been got up for their special 
entertainment. The police would have driven them off, but 
I won an enduring popularity by interceding in their behalf. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 271 

and they were consequently permitted to remain. Upon 
the occasions of the more formal balls subsequently given, 
soldiers were stationed at every entrance, and the crowd kept 
at a distance. 

Amongst the lower classes, fandangoes and other charac- 
teristic dances are frequent, and are sufficiently uproarious 
and promiscuous. For obvious reasons, I never witnessed 
any of these in the city, although I stumbled upon them 
occasionally in the villages, during my excursions in the 
country. 

The people of Nicaragua are generally scrupulously clean 
in their persons, except when travelling or ill, and then the 
touch of water is prohibited. But beyond the grand sala, 
and the apartments appropriated to visitors, their houses are 
frequently very far from being patterns of neatness. I have 
seen sleeping apartments, occupied by families of the first 
respectability, which certainly had not been swept for weeks, 
not to say months. Yet the beds in these rooms were clean 
and neat — ^the more so perhaps from the contrast. These 
remarks are less applicable to Granada than Leon, for in the 
former city the example of the foreign residents has worked 
a partial reformation amongst the native housekeepers. 

The Spanish people, in all parts of the world, are temper- 
ate in their habits. Those of Nicaragua in this respect do 
no discredit to their progenitors. Strong liquors are little 
used except amongst the lower orders of the population ; and 
even here excess is less common than with us. The sale of 
brandy and the " aguardiente," or native rum, is a govern- 
ment monopoly, and is confined to the " estancos," or licensed 
establishments, where it pays a high duty to the State. I do 
not remember to have seen a single rcvspectable citizen drunk 
during the whole of my residence in the country. Yet a 
bottle of " cogniac" is usually offered to the stranger, when- 
ever he pays a visit. A considerable quantity of sweet or 
Spanish wines, are used in the principal towns, but the 



272 NICABAflUA — NABRATIVK. 

lighter TVench wines have the lai^est consumption. There 
IB a delicious kind of liqueur made from the Muscatel grape, 
called "Italia," cr "Pisco," which is brought from Peru, It 
is, however, produced in small quantities, upon I believe 
a single estate, and ia consequently introduced in Nicaragua 
to a very limited extent. Should it ever become generally 
known to the people of the United States, it would, no doubt, 
create for itself a large demand. But whether it can be pro- 
duced in sufficient quantities to supplya considerable market, 
is a point upon which I am ignorant 

In their food, the Nicaraguans are also exceedingly simple. 
Tortillas and frijoles are the standard dishes. The first aie 
composed of maize, and if well made are really palatable. 




Fresh and unblemished maize on the ear is always selected. 
It is shelled, soaked in alkali to remove the hull, and then 
carefully and repeatedly washed in cold water. It is after- 
wards placed on a Tnetlatl, or grinding stone, and reduced to 
the extreniest fineness. A very little cheese is ground with 
it, to give it consistency. A roll is then taken in the hand^, 
beaten into a flat cake, and placed on an earthen pan, already 
heated upon the fire. When sufficiently done upon one side, 



TOBTILLAS AND FRUOLES. 



278 



it IB adroitly turoed oa the other, and is fioollj served hot 
and cnap at the table. I "cottoned" to the tortilU &omthe 
atart, and always prefeired it to the native bread, which 
although light and fair to the eye, ia invariably spoiled by 
sweetening. The tortilla ia an aboriginal invention ; and 
the foregoing ei^raving represents an ancient iTKtlail or 
grinding stone which was dug up during my residence in 
Leon. The form ie unchained to this day, although few are 
aa elaborately ornamented as that h^re introduced, which is a 
favorable specimen of aboriginal carving. 

It will be observed that this stone is curiously ornamented 
with grecques, which are shown more distinctly in the sub' 

joined enlarged sketches of the upper and lower extremities 

■of the medatl (o. b.) 



f^>^ 




Fr^'olea, in plain English, are baked beans ; but the beans 
are quite of a different flavor from those in use in more 
northern latitudes. They are small, white, black, or brown 
in color, and indigenous in the country. They are not usual- 
ly relished at first, but a taste for them is gradually acquired, 
and a meal without _^-gbfes finally comes to lack an essential 
ingredient. The man who cannot " go " the Jrijoks had bel- 
ter keep away from Central America. For the weary travel- 
ler, in soliciting the bill of fere at the Indian hut where, four 
85 



274 NICARAGUA — NABRATIVE. 

times out of five, he is obliged to stop for the night, has gen- 
erally this brief catalogue, "Aay tortillas^ frijoles, frijolitos, 
Jrijolitos fntoSj y Awevcw," — " tortillas, beans, little beans, little 
baked beans, and eggs!'' 

Excellent beef and pork are to be obtained, at cheap rates, 
in all the principal towns, and poultry is abundant, A pair 
of chickens costs from a quxirtilh to a medioy — i. e. from three 
to six cents. Next to the tortillas and frijoles, however, the 
chief articles of consumption are rice, plantains, and a kind 
of cheese, which is supplied in great quantities from the 
" haciendas de las vacas," or cattle estates. The plantains 
are cooked in many ways, — ^boiled, fried, and roasted, — and 
are singly capable of sustaining life. And when I add that, 
in many parts of the state, they may be had for the asking, 
and that everywhere six cents worth will sustain a small 
fiBunily for a week, it will be understood that the incentives 
to labor cannot be very strong, and that the poorest wretch 
need not go hungry. 

The markets of Leon display the greatest profusion of 
fruits and vegetables, of which it would be almost impossible 
to give a complete list. Water and musk melons, papayas, 
pine apples, oranges, mamays, nisperos, pomegranates, ma- 
raiions, jocotes, yucas, plantains, bananas, beans, maize, and 
occasionally small potatoes but little larger than bullets, 
brought in bales from the highlands of Costa Rica and Hon- 
duras, and sold by the pound. And as the smallest coin in 
the country is a quartillo^ or three cents, which would pur- 
chase more of almost any of these articles than most families 
would require at one time, change is made in the aboriginal 
coin of the country, namely caccu) nuts, of which four are 
about equivalent in value to one cent of our currencj'. 

But two meals a-day are eaten by the inhabitants at large. 
A cup of coffee or chocolate is served at the bedside, or im- 
mediately upon rising in the morning. Breakfast follows at 
nine or ten o'clock in the forenoon, and dinner at three or 



TISTE, DULCES, ETC. 276 

four in the afternoon. Tea is only drunk by foreigners, and 
by them to a very limited extent. It is not to be found 
therefore in any of the shops. A cup of chocolate, or more 
frequently a cup of tiste (parched corn ground with chocolate 
and sugar and mixed with water), passed unceremoniously 
in the evening, supplies its place, and is not an unacceptable 
substitute. It should be mentioned, however, that large 
quantities of " dulces," literally "sweets" or sweetmeats are 
eaten between meals, especially by the women. The Spanish 
taste for **diilces" long ago passed into a proverb, but it 
rather surpasses itself in Nicaragua. The venders of " dul- 
ces," generally bright Indian girls, gaily dressed, and bearing 
a tray, covered with the purest white napkins, and tempt- 
ingly spread, upon their heads, pass daily from house to 
house; and it is sometimes difficult, and always ungallant to 
reftise purchasing something, however trifling, from their 
stock. The " mil gracias Sefior !" in the silverest of voices, 
is always worth the money, and so one gets the " dulces " 
gratis. They sometimes, however, trespassed a little upon 
D^y good nature, and carried off more of my loose change 
than was proper, considering that, having a reasonable regard 
for my stomach, I never ate any of their dyspeptic com- 
pounds. 

Leon has little trade beyond the supply of its local wants. 
The principal import and export business for this portion of 
the state is done in the large and flourishing town of Chinan- 
dega, situated within two leagues of the port of Realejo. Its 
shops are nevertheless well supplied, and it has some wealthy 
merchants. Its principal inhabitants, however, are " propie- 
tarios," owners of large estates which are carried on through 
agents. Attempts have recently been made to augment the 
commercial importance of Leon by opening a shorter and 
direct communication with Realejo; but its interior position 
will always prove a bar to its progress in this respect Chi- 
nandega has already a start, which it will doubtless keep, 



276 



- NARRATIVE. 



uolesB a town, more favorably situated nearer the port, 
nhould spring up under the requirements of commerei;. 

Since the above was written, a new town called ■' Coriath," 
lias been laid out on the south shore of the harbor of Realejo. 
ill the direction of Leon, which will greatly benefit the latter 
city. 




CHAPTER X. 

THB VICnnTT OF LEON — THB BISnOP's BATHS — FUENTE DE AXUSCO — '* CERRO 
DE LOS AMERICANOS** — ^A MILITARY BALL AND CIVIC DINNER — OEN. GUER- 
RERO — OFFICIAL VISIT FROM THE INDIAN MUNICIPALITY OF SUBTIABA 
— SIMON ROQUE — A SECRET — ADDRESS AND REPLY — ^VfSIT RETURNED — 
THB OABILDO— AN EMPTY TREASURY- " SUBTIABA, LEAL Y FIEL" — ROYAL 
CEDULAS — FORMING A VOCABULARY — " UNA DEOIMa" — THE INDIANS OF 
NICARAGUA; STATURE; COMPLEXION; DISPOSITION; BRAVERY; INDUSTRY; 
SKILL IN THE ARTS — MANUFACTURE OF COTTON — PRIMITIVE MODE OF SPIN- 
NING — TYRIAN PURPLE — PETATES AND HAMMOCKS — POTTERY — " AGUACALE8," 
AND " JIOARAS," — COSTUME— ORNAMENTS — ABORIGINAL INSTITUTIONS — ^THE 
CONQUEST OF NICARAGUA — ENORMITIF^ PRACTISED TOWARDS THE INDIANS — 
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE INDIANS — THE SEQUEL OP SOMOZa's INSURREC- 
TION — BATTLES OF THE OBRAJE AND SAN JORGE CAPTURE AND EXECUTION 

OF 80M0ZA — ^MODERATE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT — RETURN OF GEN. 
MUNOZ — MEDALS — FESTIVAL OF PEACE — NOVFJi PROCESSION — ^A BLACK SAINT. 

The country adjacent to Leon is very fine, and the " paseos" 
or rides in tlie vicinity, although lacking an important 
element of beauty, the proximity of water, are not without 
variety and interest. My first expedition on horseback was 
to a place called the Bishop's Baths. We rode through the 
barrio do San Juan, where the carreieros most do congregate, 
to the edge of the northern ravine. Here we found a path 
literally shut in with cactuses and trees covered with vines, 
which led to the ruins of an ancient gateway, beyond which 
had once been the suburban seat of the Bishops of Nicaragua. 
It was a beautiful spot; the ground had been artificially 
smoothed, and beneath the large trees which shadowed over 
it, were the remains of stone seats, and of pedestals which 
had once sustained crosses and the statues of the saints. In 



278 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

front of where the house had stood, before its destruction 
during the troubles of the revolutionary period, there was 
an abrupt slope to the stream at the bottom of the ravine. 
This slope had formerly been terraced, and descended by a 
winding way. The baths were of stone, and although now 
in ruins, still gave evidences of the taste and luxury which 
had led to their construction. A couple of women, naked 
with the exception of a single cloth around their loins, were 
washing in the principal bath, but they vacated it tempora- 
rily at our request, and we took possession. The seclusion 
of the place, the limpid purity of the water, and the deep 
shade in which everything was shrouded, enchamted me with 
the spot, and I could not help thinking that it must have 
been selected by one of the rosiest and jolliest of the old 
bishops whose portraits had tipped me a friendly wink from 
the walls of the heavy room where they were imprisoned in 
the cathedral. But I afterwards found that this was but one 
only of a thousand equally beautiful spots in the neighbor- 
hood of the city. That, however, to which my memory 
reverts most frequently, is the " fuente de Axusco," distant 
about two miles to the southward of the town. It is a broad 
pool, at the bottom of a ravine, shut in by steep banks on 
every side, and reached by a single narrow path. The water 
is tepid, and bursts, pure as crystal, in a large volume from 
beneath the rocks. It is literally arched over with trees, and 
curtained in with vines. This place was my favorite resort 
during the whole of my residence in the country. I rose at 
early dawn, despatched a cup of coffee, and mounting my 
horse, generally reached the place just as the sun began to 
tinge the summit of the distant volcanoes. The path lay 
through fields covered with trees and bushes, spangled all • 
over with flowers, and glittering with dew-drops. The cool, 
bracing morning air, the quick action of the horse, and the 
grateful plunge into the quiet pool, — I think I never enjoyed 
so much the mere pleasure of existence, as during my visits 



CJEBBO DS LOS AHEBICANOS. 279 

to the " fuente de Axusco." There stood a cross in a nook 
near the pool, and I often observed chaplets of fresh flowers 
siispended upon it. It puzzled me exceedingly, and one day, 
finding a little boy seated beside it, I asked him why it was 
there ? It commemorated an awful murder, he said, and 
that was all he knew, except that the victim was a woman. 
Beyond the " fuenta," is the range of low hills which I have 
mentioned as bordering the plain of Leon on the side of the 
ocean. I had the trees cut down on the most commanding 
peak, and rode there so frequently that the rancheros in the 
vicinity christened it "el cerro de los Americanos," the hill 
of the Americans. From this point the eye traversed the 
whole vast plain, and took in every object of interest. Upon 
one hand the forests alone shut the lake of Managua from 
view, while upon the other the broad' Pacific lay bright and 
beautiful on the edge of the horizon. With a glass the ves- 
sels in the harbor of Eealejo, and the outlines of the volcano 
of Coseguina, distant more than a hundred miles, could easily 
be distinguished. A view from the " cerro de los Ameri- 
canos" is an incident in a man's lifetime not likely to be for- 
gotten. Its impression upon my own mind is too distinct 
ever to be eflGaced. 

Our second week in Leon was signalized by a military 
ball and a government dinner, both on a scale far surpass- 
ing anything of the kind which had been witnessed in the 
city for many years. The ball was under the special patron- 
age of Gen. Don Jose Guerrero, who had just finished a term 
as Director of the State, but who had accepted the command 
of the garrison in the absence of the General-in-chief. It 
was during his administration that the seizure of San Juan 
by the English had taken place, and it was his eloquent 
appeal, in a circular addressed to all civilized nations, which 
had arrested the attention and awakened the sympathy of 
General Taylor and his cabinet. My arrival in the country, 
it can readily be understood, was to him a source of the pro- 



280 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

foundest satisfaction; and during my official residence in 
Leon, I had no warmer firiend than General Guerrero. May 
he live to witness the fruition of the policy which he marked 
out for his country, and the realization of those high and 
patriotic hopes which he has so long and so devotedly cher- 
ished I 

Amongst the most pleasing incidents connected with my 
arrival was a formal visit from the municipal authorities of 
the Indian pueblo of Subtiaba, who, in their way, are amongst 
the sturdiest republicans in all Nicaragua. At their head 
was Simon Eoque, with whom I afterwards established an 
intimate friendship. He presented me an address, written 
both in the Indian language and in Spanish, and accompa- 
nied it with a speech, which was far above the average, both 
in language and sentiment, and altogether a favorable speci- 
men of Indian eloquence. Simon and his companions were 
dressed in spotless white, and each wore a red sash about his 
waist, and carried a gold-headed cane, an insignia of office, in 
his hands. They were curious to know about the Indian 
population of the United States, and I blush to say it, I was 
ashamed to tell them the truth. They had heard that I was 
a great friend of the Indians, and on the lookout for " piedras 
antiguas." They had something to tell me on that subject, 
but it could only be done when wc were alone. So the sala 
was cleared, and Simon, after some circumlocution, informed 
me that they knew of certain ancient stones which their an- 
cestors had buried a very long time ago, and which, if I 
wished, they would present to me, on the peremptory condi- 
tion, however, that their locality should be kept a profound 
secret. I was too glad to have an opportunity to assent to 
any conditions, and it was finally agreed that, as it would be 
impossible for me to attend to the business now, some of the 
stones should be excavated at once, and sent to my residence. 
They were as good as their word ; and a couple of mornings 
thereafter we were surprised at finding two statues at the 



MUNICIPALITY OF SUBTIABA. 281 

threshold of the portal ; and a few nights later a cart ap- 
peared with two more,— of all which a description will be 
given in another place. This little piece of confidence over, 
I treated the company to as much claret as they chose to 
drink, and we parted with the understanding that I should 
return the visit at an early day. The address and reply were 
as follows : 

ADDRESS. 

" Sir : — ^The municipality of the Pueblo of Subtiaba, of which we are 
members, entertain the highest enthusiasm in view of the relations which 
your arrival induces us to believe will speedily be established between 
Nicaragua and the United States, the greatest and most glorious republic 
beneath the sun. We rejoice in the depths of our hearts that a man like 
yourself has been chosen to convey to us the assurances of future pros- 
perity, in the name of the sons of Washington ; and we trust in the Al- 
mighty, that the flag of the United States may soon become the shield of 
Nicaragua on land and sea. Convey our sincerest thanks for their sympa- 
thy to the great people which you represent, and give to your generous 
government the assurances of that deep gratitude which we feel but can- 
not express. We beg of you. Sir, to accept this humble evidence of the 
cordial sentiments which we entertain both for you, your countrymen, and 
your Government, and which are equally shared by the people which we 
represent 

Jose de la Cruz Garoias, 
(Signed) Simon Roque, 

Francisco Luis Antan. 

REPLY. 

" My friends op the Municipalitt of Subtiaba : 

" I experience great pleasure in receiving from your hands this brief but 
earnest address ; and I return you my thanks, both personally and in be- 
half of my Government, for the friendly sentiments which it contains. I 
sincerely hope that the high anticipations which you have formed from a 
more intimate relation between your country and the United States, may 
be fully realized." 

The reader may be assured that I did not forget my promise 
to the municipality of Subtiaba. A day was shortly after- 

86 



282 NICARAQIJA. — KAEBATtVt:. 

wards fixed for my visit, and I was received with great cere- 
mony at the cabildo, or council chamber, where I found col- 
lected all the old men who could assist me in fonning a 
vocabulary of the ancient language, which I had casually 
expressed a desire to procure. It was with diflBculty that we 
could e£fect an entrance, for a half-holiday had been given to 
the boys of all the schools in honor of the occasion, and they 
literally swarmed around the building. We were finally 
ushered into an inner room, where the archives of the mu- 
nicipality were preserved. Upon one side was a large chest 
of heavy wood, with massive locks, which had anciently been 




the strong box or treasury. A shadow fell over Simon's 
face as he pointed it out to me, and said that he could re- 
member the time when it was filled with "duros," hard 
dollars, and when, at a single stroke of the alarm bell, two 
thousand armed men could be gathered in the plaza of Sub- 
tiaba. But those days were passed, and the mimicipality 
now scarcely retained a shadow of its former greatness. 
Under the crown it had earned the title " leal y fiel," loyal 



PBOCURING A VOOABULABY. 288 

and true; and in reward of its fidelity it had received a grant 
of all the lands intervening between it and the ocean, to hold 
in perpetuity for the benefit of its citizens. And Simon 
showed me the royal letters, signed " Yo, el Eey " (I, the 
King), which the emperors of Spain had thought it not 
derogatory to their dignity to address to his predecessors 
in oflSice; and notwithstanding his ardent republicanism, I 
thought Simon looked at them with something of regret. I 
inquired for manuscripts which might throw some Ughtupon 
the early history of the country, but found only musty 
records, of no interest or value. 

My attempts to fill out the blank vocabulary with which I 
was provided created a great deal of merriment. I enjoyed 
it quite as much as any of them, for nothing could be more 
amusing than the discussions between the old men in respect 
to certain doubtful words and phrases. They sometimes 
quite forgot my presence, and rated each other soundly as 
ignoramuses; whereat Simon was greatly scandalized, and 
threatened to put them all in the stocks as " hombres sin 
verguenza ," men destitute of shame. " Ah I" said he, 
^Hhese old sinners give me more trouble than the young 
ones" — a remark which created great mirth amongst the out- 
siders, and especially amongst the young vagabonds who 
clung like monkeys to the window bars. The group of swar- 
thy, earnest faces gathered round the little table, upon which 
was heaped a confiised mass of ancient, time-stained papers, 
would have furnished a study for a painter. It was quite 
dark when I had concluded my inquiries, but I was not per- 
mitted to leave without listening to a little poem, " Una De- 
cima," written by one of the schoolmasters, who read it tome 
by the light of a huge wax candle, borrowed, I am sure, from 
the church for the occasion. My modesty forbids my attempt- 
ing a translation, and so I compromise matters by submitting 
the original: 



284 NICABAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

DECIMA. 

Nicaragua, ve hasta cuando 
Cesara vuestxo desvelo, 
Ya levantara el vuelo 
Hermoso, alegre, y triunfante ; 
Al mismo tiempo mirando 
De este personage el portO; 
Y mas sera cuando corte 
Todos los agradecimientos : 
Diremos todos contentos 
Viva el Gobiemo del Norte I 



D. & 



As I mounted my horse, Don Simon led oflf with three 
cheers for " El Ministro del Norte," and followed it with 
three more for " El Amigo de los Indios " (the friend of the 
Indians), all of which was afterwards paraded by a dingy 
little Anglo-servile paper published in Costa Eica, as evi- 
dence that I was tampering with the Indians, and exciting 
them to undertake the utter destruction of the white popula- 
tion! 

The Indians of Nicaragua, who, as I have said, predomi- 
nate in the country, are singularly docile and industrious, 
and constitute what would, in some countries, be called an 
excellent " rural population." They are a smaller race of 
men than the Indians of the United States, but have fine 
muscular developments, and a singularly mild and soft ex- 
pression of countenance. In color also they are lighter, and 
their features less strongly marked. Some of the women are 
exceedingly pretty, and when young, have figures beautifully 
and classically moulded. They are entirely unobtrusive in 
their manners, seldom speaking unless first addressed, and 
are always kind and hospitable to strangers. They are not 
warlike but brave, and when reduced to the necessity, fight 
with the most desperate obstinacy. Leon has more than once 
owed its safety to the Indian battalion of Subtiaba, which, in' 



PRIMITIVE SPINNING. 



286 



the civil wars of 1838-39, marched triumphantly from one 
end of Central America to the other. 

The agriculture of the State is almost entirely carried on 
by them ; but they are not deficient in mechanical skill, and 
with the rudest tools often produce the most delicate and 
elaborate articles of workmanship. The women manufacture 
a large quantity of cotton for their own consumption and for 
sale. And in riding through Subtiaba in the afternoon, no 
spectacle is more common than to see a woman naked to the 
waist, sitting in the doorway of almost every hut, or beneath 
the shadow of an adjacent tree, busily engaged in spinning 







PRIMITIVE SPINNING APPARATUS. 



cotton. A little foot- wheel, such as was formerly in use ft)r 
spinning flax in our own country, is here commonly used for 
this puri>08e. But the aboriginal contrivance is not yet 
wholly displaced. It is exceedingly simple, consisting of a 
thin spindle of wood fifteen or sixteen inches in length, 
which is passed through a fly, or wheel of hard, heavy wood, 
six inches in diameter, resembling the wheel of a pulley, ex- 
cept that it is convex instead of concave on the edge. The 
spindle thus resembles a gigantic top. When used it is 
placed in a calabash, or hollowed piece of wood, to prevent 
it from toppling over, when not in motion. A thread is 
attached to it, just above the fly, and it is then twirled rap- 



286 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

idly between the thumb and fore-finger. The momentum of 
the fly keeps it in motion for half a minute, and meantime 
the thread is drawn out by the hands of the operator, from 
the pile of prepared cotton which she holds in her lap. It 
is then wound on the spindle, and the process repeated, until 
the spindle is full of thread. 

In the foregoing cut a represents the cotton; 6, J, the 
spindle ; d, the fly ; c, the thread already spun and wound ; 
and e, e, the outlines of the calabash. A precisely similar 
mode of spinning was practised by the ancient Mexicans, 
who, however, inserted the lower end of the spindle in a 
hole made in a block of wood, as shown in the accompanying 

engraving. The mode of weaving 
amongst the Indians of Nicaragua was 
anciently the same as that of the Mexi- 
cans, which is sufficiently well illus- 
trated in the following engraving, 
copied from the Codex Mendoza, a 
Mexican manuscript or painting. 

Some of the cotton fabrics manufac- 
tured by the Indians are very durable, 

and woven in tasteful figures of various 
sriNNiNo FROM A MEXICAN ^^j^^ rphe color most valued is 

M A ri u StC KLrT. 

the Tyrian purple, obtained from the 
murex shell-fish, which is found upon the Pacific coast of 
Nicaragua. This color is produced of any desirable depth 
and tone, and is permanent; unaffected alike by exposure 
to the sun and to the action of alkalies. The process of dying 
the thread illustrates the patient assiduity of the Indians. It 
is taken to the seaside, when a sufficient number of shells are 
collected, which being dried from the sea water, the work is 
commenced. Each shell is taken up singly, and a slight 
pressure upon the valve which closes its mouth forces out a 
few drops of the coloring fluid, which is then almost destitute 
of color. In this each thread is dipped singly, and after ab- 




TYHIAN PURPLE. 



287 



florbing enough of the precious liquid, is carefully drawu out 
between the thnmb and finger, and laid aside to dry. Whole 
days and nights are spent in this tedious process, until the 
work is completed. At first the thread is of a dull blue 




color, but upon exposure to the atmosphere acquires the de- 
sired tint. The fish is not destroyed by the operation, but 
is returned to the sea, when it lays in a new stock of coloring 
nnatter for a future occasion,' 

The manufacture of " petates," or variegated mats, from 
the bark of the palm, and hammocks from the " pita," a 
species of agave, is exclusively in Indian hands. They are 
also skillful in the manufacture of pottery, which has re- 
mained unchanged from the period before the Conquest. The 



' "The cotton-yam thus dyed is known in the country by the name of 
' hilo morado,' and is highly prized by the Indian women of all the States, 
who are extremely partial to it for adorning the dresses used on festive 
occasions. Formerly, high prices were paid for it; being frequently sold 
in Guatemala aad other principal towns, for from t«D to fourteen dollar< 
the pound. In recent times purple thread haa been imported from Eu- 
rope, and sold at a much cheaper rate ; but the color is neither aa good 
nor aa durable, and notwithstanding ita economy, does not supplant the 
native product. The Indiana are not easily deceired by offering them the 
one for the other, aa they can readily distinguish the foreign from the 
genuine by some peculiarity of smell in the Utter, which, although the 
dMreat, is always preferred." — BaiJy, p. 125. 



288 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

"oantaros,'' water-jars, and other vessels in common use, 
amongst all classes, are made bj them. They are formed 
by hand, withoat the aid of the potter's wheel, and are vari- 
ously and often elaborately colored and ornamented, baked, 
and when intended for purposes requiring it, are partially 
glazed. The water-jars, however, are porous, so as to admit 
of enough water passing through to keep the outer surfiice 
covered with moisture, the evaporation of which rapidly and 
effectually cools the contents of the vessel. Oviedo com- 
mends highly the skill which the ancient inhabitants dis- 
played in the manufacture of their pottery, and which is very 
well sustained both by the fragments which are found, and 
by the wares which the Indians still manufacture. " They 
make basins, plates, jars, and pitchers, of very fine pottery, 
black and smooth as velvet, and brilliant as jet. I have 
brought some specimens, which are so fine that they might 
be offered to a prince." Thus saith the chronicler. 

Mr. W. H. Edwards, in his narrative of " A Voyage up 
the Amazon," p. 114, describes the preparation and painting 
of pottery by the Indians on that river. The brushes or 
pencils were the small species of palms, and the coloring 
matter the simplest kinds. The blue was indigo ; black, the 
juice of the mandroca; green, the juice of some other plant; 
and the red and yellow, clays. The colors were applied in 
squares and circles, or if anything imitative was intended, in 
the rudest outlines. The ghizing was produced by a resinous 
gimi found in the forests, which was gently rubbed over the 
vessels, previously warmed over a bed of coals. This descrip- 
tion applies equally to the modes practised in Nicaragua. 

They also make drinking vessels from the calabash ; the 
largest varieties are called ^^guacals^^^ or " aguacals^^^ and the 
smaller ones, made from the long or pear-shaped calabash, 
'^jicaras^ These last are oflen tastefully carved upon their 
exteriors, and are generally used instead of tumblers. It is 
indispensable that " tiste''' should be served in " jicaras," and 



11ANUPACT0BE 07 POTTERY. 288 

amongst the people at large tbej are also used for coffee and 
chocolate. But as their bottoms are round, little carved 
stands are made to receive them. The Indians near the cit^ 
of Nicaragua make similar cups from a variety of cocoa-nut 
peculiar to that vicinity, which are celebrated throughout 
their country for their beauty of shape and ornament. They 
are black, and highly polished, and when mounted with sil* 
ver, are greatly prized by foreigners. 




The dress of the Indians is exceedingly simple. On ordi- 
nary occasions, the women wear only a white or flowered 
skirt, fastened around the waist, leaving the upper part of 
the person entirely exposed, or but partially covered by a 
handkerchief fastened around the neck. In Masaya and 
some other places, a square piece of cloth, of native manu- 
bcture, and of precisely the same style and pattern with 
that used for the same purpose before the Discovery, supplies 
the place of the skirt. It b fastened in some iQcomprehensi- 
ble way, without the aid of strings or pius, and falls from the 
hips a little below the knees. The guipil and nagua are 
however adopted in nearly all the large towns, and are 
everywhere worn on festival days and Sundays. The men 
wear a kind of cotton drawers, fastened above the hips, but 
frequently reaching no lower than the knees. Sandals sup- 
ply the place of shoes, but for the most part both sexes go 
37 



S90 NICARAQDA — HABRATIV2. 

with their feet bare. The taste for ornament ia univereal ; 
and a rosary, to which is attached a little golden, silTer, or 
ebony cross, is suspended from the necks of male and female, 
old and young. They are also fond of flowets, and the girls 
are seldom without some of them entwined amongst the Inx- 
uriant locks of their long, black hair, or braided in a chaplet 
and eneireling their foreheads. 




The municipality of Subtiaba, in common with the bante 
of some of the towns, holds lands, as I have said, in virtue 
of royal grants, in its corporate capacity. These lands are 
inalienable, and are leased to the inhabitants at low mo 
almost nominal rates. Every citizen is entitled to a snfBdent 
quantity to enable him to support himself and his&mitjl 
for which he pays from four rials (half a dollar,) to two dol- 
lars a year. This practice seems to have been of aborigiwl 
institution ; for under the ancient Indian organization, iw 
right to live was recognized as a fundamental principle in w 
civil and social ayatem. No man was supposed to oe 



THE RIGHT TO LIVE. 291 

entitled to more land than was necessary to his support ; nor 
was he permitted to hold more than that, to the exclusion or 
injury of others. 

In fact, many of the institutions of the Indians in this 
country were recognized, and have been perpetuated by the 
Spaniards. Somd> of the ceremonies of the aboriginal ritual 
have also been incorporated amongst the rites of the Catholic 
Church. In many respects it is hard to say whether the 
conquerors have assimilated most to the Indians, or the In- 
dians to the Spaniards. For, however rude and subverting 
the first shock of Spanish conquest in America, the subse- 
quent policy of Spain, framed and directed by the famous 
Council of the Indies, was that of conciliation. In common 
with the church, it conceded much to the habits and feel- 
ings of the aborigines, and to a certain extent conformed to 
them. 

The conquest of Nicaragua was effected with no less vio- 
lence than that of Mexico and Peru; and if we may credit 
the account of Las Casas, the pious bishop of Chiapa, who 
visited the country in person, it was both attended and fol- 
lowed by extraordinary cruelties. He charges the enormity 
chiefly upon Pedro Arias de Avila, Governor of Darien, who 
seat Cordova to subdue the country, and who himself after- 
wards became its governor. 

" The Indians of this province," he says, " were naturally 
of a mild and peacable temper ; yet notwithstanding this, the 
Governor, or rather Tyrant, with the ministers of his cruelty, 
treated them in the same manner as they did those of the 
other kingdoms. They committed murders and robberies, 
more than it is possible for pen to relate. Upon the slight- 
est pretexts, the soldiers massacred the inhabitants without 
regard to age, sex, or condition. They exacted firom them 
certain measures of com, and certain numbers of slaves, and 
if these were not rendered, hesitated not to kill the delin- 
quents. And the country being plain, the people were 



292 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

unable to escape to the mountains as they did elsewhere, and 
were consequently at the mercy of the Spanish horse. They 
carried off many thousands as slaves, slaying those who 
fainted or wearied on the march. 

" The Governor once arbitrarily changed the distribution 
of the Indians, conveying most of them to Kis fevorites, to the 
exclusion of those with whom he was displeased. The result 
of this was a great scarcity of food ; and the Spaniards seiz- 
ing upon the provisions of the Indians, caused a great distress, 
and induced a disorder which destroyed upwards of thirty 
thousand of the people. 

" All the cities, and fields around them, were like pleasant 
gardens, which the Spaniards cultivated according to the 
share which each one had assigned him by lot ; and to save 
their own revenues, supported themselves firom the stores of 
the Indians, thus consuming, in a short time, what these poor 
people had got together with great care and toil. Nobles, 
women, and children were all compelled to work day and 
and night ; many died under the burthens which were im- 
posed upon them. For they obliged them to carry on their 
shoulders to the ports, which were in some cases distant thirty 
leagues, the plank and timbers used in building vessels." 

Las Casas, however, regards the practice of exacting slaves 
from the caziques, for transportation and sale elsewhere, as 
one of the chief causes of the depopulation of the country. 
Five or six ship-loads were annually taken to Peru and 
Panama, and sold there. He calculates that half a million of 
Indians were thus drawn out of Nicaragua alone ; but this 
number appears incredible. The statement that from fifty to 
sixty thousand perished in the wars of the Conquest is per- 
haps, nearer the truth ; for, as he observes, " this was one of 
the best peopled countries in all America." 

When the Council of the Indies began to repress the cru- 
elties of the conquerors, the governors of Nicaragua proved 
themselves refractory ; indeed, Eodrigo de Contreras openly 



EARLY OBUELTY TOWARDS THE INDIANS. 298 

disobeyed his instructions in this respect, which was the 
proximate cause of the insurrection headed by his son, to 
which I have elsewhere alluded. 

The following incident, related by Oviedo, will illustrate 
the severe and repulsive measures which were practised to- 
wards the Indians at this early period. " In 1528, the trea- 
surer, Alonzo de Peralta, and a man named Zurita, and the 
brothers BaUas, left the city of Leon, each to visit the vil- 
lages and Indians belonging to him. They never returned, 
having been destroyed by their own vassals. Hereupon 
Pedro Arias de Avila sent out soldiers to bring in some 
of the malefactors. They arrested seventeen or eighteen 
cassiqties whom Pedro Arias caused to be strangled by dogs. 
The execution took place in the following manner, on Tues- 
day, the 16th of June of the same year, in the public square 
of Leon. Each cazique was armed with a stick, and told to 
defend himself against the dogs, and to kill them if he could. 
Five or six young dogs were first set upon them, which their 
masters wished to train, as they were yet without experience. 
They ran baying around the Indian, who easily kept them 
off with his stick ; but the moment he thought himself con- 
queror, a couple of mastiflfe, or well-trained hounds, were sent 
against him, who threw him in a moment. The other dogs 
then fell upon him, biting and choking him, tearing out his 
entrails, and devouring him, as it were. In this manner the 
eighteen were soon disposed of. They were from the valley 
of Olocoton, and its vicinity. When the dogs were satiated, 
the dead bodies remained in the same place, it being forbid- 
den to carry them off, under penalty of being served in like 
manner ; otherwise the Indians would have taken them away. 
They were thus left in order to frighten the natives ; but on 
the second day the stench of the dead bodies became insup- 
portable. And on the fourth, it was so horrible that, being 
compelled to pass there in going to the house of the governor, 
I begged him to give permission to have them carried away ; 



294 NICARAGUA — ^NABBATIVE. 

which he did the more readily, since his house was situated 
near the square." 

But whatever their former condition, the Indians of Nica- 
ragua no longer labor under any disabilities. They enjoy 
equal privileges with the whites, and may aspire to any 
position, however high, both in the Church and State. The 
system of peonage (slavery under a less repugnant name) is 
here unknown. Yet the Indian retains his traditionary 
deference for the white man, and tacitly admits his superi- 
ority. In some of the States of Central America, a jealousy 
of caste has been artfully excited by unscrupulous partisans, 
for unworthy purposes, which has led to most deplorable 
results ; but in Nicaragua, if this feeling exists at all, it is 
only in a latent form. At any rate, it has never displayed 
itself in any of those frightful demonstrations which have 
almost desolated Guatemala and portions of Peru, and which 
threaten the entire extinction of the white race in Yucatan. 
This quiet, however, may be that of the slumbering volcano; 
and its continuance may depend very much upon the judicious 
encouragement of white emigration from the United States 
and from Europe. 

The original inhabitants of Nicaragua, and of Central 
America generally, seem to have been of the true Toltecan 
stock. So too were the nations of Anahuac, the Aztecs or 
Mexicans, but modified and deteriorated by association and 
intermixture with the barbarous Chichemecas. From this 
source they derived the fiercer and more savage traits in 
their characters; and even now, notwithstanding that they 
have to a great extent adopted new customs, and been sub- 
jected to the influences of Spanish association for more than 
tliree hundred years, the distinguishing traits of the two 
families are easily to be recognized. The mild, brave but 
not warlike, industrious, intelligent, and law-abiding Indians 
about Leon, of the purer Toltecan blood, furnish in their 
smaller and more rounded forms, their regular features, clear 



INDIAN TRAITS. 295 

ejes, and cheerftQ expression, a decided contrast to the rest- 
less, treacherous, and cruel Indians round the ancient city of 
jN^icaragua. The latter are taller, more bony, with sharper 
and often irregular features, and with an always reserved if 
not sullen expression. The contrast is hardly greater than 
"between the French and the Dutch. Yet none of these In- 
dians could ever be confounded with the roving tribes of our 
latitude. They have certain generic or radical identities, but 
in most physical and mental features, are widely different. 
Those of Central America are capable of high improvement, 
smd have a fiicility of assimilation or adaptation. They con- 
stitute, when favorably situated, the best class of citizens, 
And would anywhere make what in Europe is called a good 
xiiral or working population. I have foimd some really 
oomprehensive minds amongst them, — men of quick and 
acute apprehension, and great decision and energy of char- 
sicter. 

In briefj the better I become acquainted with the various 
fiiboriginal families of the continent, the higher position I am 
ciisposed to award them, and the less I am disposed to assent 
tx> the relative rank assigned them by the systematic writers. 
I have already mentioned the interview between our Ameri* 
can friend in Granada, and the rebel chief, Somoza. Soon 
after our arrival in Leon, positive information was received 
that he had been successful in his descent upon San Carlos, 
and had got possession of the arms and ammunition which 
tad been deposited there. He, however, did not attempt to 
xetain possession of the place, but returned immediately with 
iis spoils to the city of Nicaragua. Meantime, nevertheless, 
as I have already intimated, the support which he had 
received from the party opposed to the government, had 
"been entirely withdrawn, in consequence of the excesses 
which he had committed, and he came back to find his adhe- 
rents dispirited and rapidly diminishing. The decision and 
energy of the government further contributed to weaken his 



296 NICAEAGUA-— NABRATIVB. 

power ; and when the General-in-chief arriyed in his neigh* 
borhood, he was left with less than half his original forces. 
His spirit, however, never failed him, and he boldly advanced 
to meet the troops of the government The first battle was 
at a place called the " Obraje." Here he was worsted, and 
compelled to fall back upon his original position, at the town 
of San George, about a league distant from the city of Bivas, 
or Nicaragua. General Mufiioz, having effected a junction 
with the volunteers from Granada, who had proceeded by 
water, attacked him here the next day, (July 14th,) com- 
pletely routed his forces, and took him and his principal fol- 
lowers prisoners. It is hardly necessary to add that they 
were tried by court-martial, and shot. 

The information of these events was received in Leon with 
extravagant demonstrations of joy, and for a whole day we 
were stunned by the firing of guns and the ringing of bells. 
In the evening the following Bulletin was issued : 

" Bemab^ Somoza, the author of misfortunes and the cause of eTils 
which can never be repaired, was captured in San Jorge on the evening 
of the 14th inst, after the defeat of his forces by the army of tlie Govern- 
ment. Subsequently to the action he was taken to the city of Rivas, tried 
according to martial law, sentenced to death, and shot (fue pasado por las 
armas), on the morning of the 17th, in the presence of the entire army. 
The General in Chief then harangued the troops in the following impress- 
ive terms: . 

" * Soldiers I We have, in a very few days, completed a glorious cam- 
paign. This happy result is due to your valor, constancy, subordination, 
and endurance. The monster, Somoza, the terror of the innocent inhab- 
itants of tliis department, has suffered the just punishment of his crime& 
The robber, the incendiary, the desecrator of temples, the violator of 
female innocence, the murderer, has passed from beneath the sword of 
human justice to the awful presence of an offended God ! Soldiers, you 
have saved the honor and preserved the integrity of the State, vindicated 
humanity, and avenged the violated laws. For this I thank you ; you 
have merited and will receive the gratitude of your country. Should the 



SND OF THB IKSURKECTIOK. 297 

f 

oooadon arise, (which Gk>d forbid I) I shall be proud to lead you again to 
▼ictory. Long live the Gk>vernment ! Qod save the Kepublic !' 

" Thus has triumphed the cause of order, of progress, and of reason 1 
Thanks to the illustrious General Munoz and his brave soldiers, the bul- 
wark and safeguard of the State ! Their deeds speak for themselves ; 
thej need no encomiums. They teach us an impressive lesson of patriot- 
ism and virtue." 

These events put an end to the internal disturbances of the 
State. The followers of Somoza at once disbanded, and re- 
turned to their homes. A few arrests were made; but with 
a moderation which reflected honor upon the government, 
and commended it to the people at large, a general amnesty 
was conceded to all who had participated in the insurrection, 
upon the condition of the surrender of their arms, and the 
restitution of the property and valuables which they had 
taken, and which commissioners were appointed to receive, 
and to restore to their rightful owners. 

Upon the 16th of August following, having completely 
re&tablished order , and taken proper precautions against 
further disturbances. Gen. Mufioz returned with his forces to 
Leon. He was met by a deputation from the city at the 
" Convento," where speeches were made, and congratulations 
exchanged, and whence the troops marched in triumph to 
the city. They were received with great enthusiasm, and 
proceeded in a body to the Cathedral, where the " Te Deum" 
was sung in acknowledgment of their safe return. The 
extraordinary battalion was at once disbanded, and the regu- 
lars only retained in the service. It was some months, how* 
ever, before the vigilance of the government was at all 
diminished, and not until every revolutionary symptom 
seemed to have died out Subsequently a medal was voted 
to the General, " for the excellent services which, under God," 
he had rendered the State. It was ordered to be of gold, 
and to contain upon one side a laurel wreath, with the words, 

"To THE DeFENDEB OP LiBERTT AND ObDER IN NlCA- 

88 



298 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

f 

RAGUA ; " and upon the reverse a naked sword, with the 
inscription, "For his Triumph of July 14, 1849." Medals 
were also voted to the subordinate officers who had particu- 
larly distinguished themselves on the same occasion; and 
the "soldiers and patriots" who had fought in the ranks, 
were decorated upon the left shoulder with a shield, bordered 
with gold, containing a palm tree in the centre, with two 
swords crossed below, and the words "RiVAS, July 14, 
1849." The State also voted a pension " to the wounded, 
and to the faOiers^ widows, and children of those who had 
fiallen in the service." And at the same time decreed " that 
in profound recognition of his visible protection, the corpo- 
rations and authorities of the State, civil and military, would 
unite in a public and solemn manifestation of thanks to God, 
in the holy Cathedral, on the 2d of September." 

And while upon this subject, I may anticipate events a 
little, and describe the ceremonial, for which great prepara* 
tions were made, and which was conducted with great 
solemnity. Upon the morning of the day high mass was 
said in the Cathedral, in presence of all the officers of State, 
and the army. The soldiers occupied the grand aisle, and 
the citizens filled the outer ones. After this was concluded, 
a procession was formed, preceded by a large silver cross, 
beneath which drooped the flag of the State. Then came the 
military band, next the host, borne by the Bishop in person, 
beneath a heavy crimson canopy of velvet. He was sur- 
rounded by the higher dignitaries of the church, and followed 
by the officers of the State and army, bare-headed, and all 
moving in a hollow square of soldiers, also with heads un- 
covered and guns reversed. Then came the chanters of the 
Cathedral, the soldiers, and the citizens. But the most sin- 
gular features of the procession were the statues of the saints, 
which, borne on men^s shoulders, were distributed at inter- 
vals throughout the line. Many of these were of the size of 
life, and in their golden, tinselled, and fantastic robes, pro- 



FESTIVAL OP PEACE. 299 

dnced a very singular effect. Amongst them was San Beni- 
to, a little black fellow, canonized, doubtless, by a far-seeing 
and politic cburcli to conciliate the colored population. He 
is, by the way, the most popular saint in Nicaragua, and has 
a grand annual festival at Masaya, to which devotees flock 
from all parts of Central America. Men, women, and chil- 
dren alike joined in the " Procession of Peace,'' which moved 
slowly through the principal streets, stopping in front of each 
of the churches to chant a prayer of thanks. It finally re- 
turned to the Cathedral, where the " Te Deum" was sung, 
and the assemblage dismissed under a benediction from the 
Bishop. No sooner was this more sober part of the ceremony 
over, than the everlasting ringing of bells and the firing of 
guns commenced again, and was kept up until dark, when 
there was an exhibition of fireworks in the plaza. 

Thus ended the insurrection of Somoza, and thenceforward 
Leon wore a more cheerful aspect. The conduct of the gov- 
ernment, from its commencement to its close, was marked with 
great justice and moderation, and afforded, in these respects, 
a striking and most favorable contrast to that which has for 
many years distinguished military operations in Central 
America. 



CHAPTER XI, 

AKTIQUITIES — ANCIENT STATUE IN THE GRAND PLAZA — MONUMENTS ON THE 
ISLAND OF MOMOTOMBITA IN LAKE MANAGUA — DETERMINE TO VISIT THEM — 
THE PADRE PAUL — PUEBLO NUEVO AND OUR OLD HOSTESS — A NIGHT RIDE — 
'* HACIENDA DE LAS VACAS" — A NIGHT AMONGST THE " VAQUEROS" — THE LAKE 

OUR BONGO VISIT THE HOT SPRINGS OF MOMOTOMBO ATTEMPT TO REACH 

ONE OF THE " INFERNALES" OF THE VOLCANO — ^TERRIBLE HEAT GIVE UP THE 

ATTEMPT OVIEDO'S ACCOUNT OF THE VOLCANO " PUNTA DE LOS PAJAROS" — 

MOMOTOMBITA — DREAD OF RATTLESNAKES — THE MONUMENTS — RESOLVE TO 
REMOVE THE LARGEST — ^A NEST OF SCORPIONS — TRIBULATION OF OUR CREW — 
BARD WORK — HOW TO SHIP AN IDOL — ^VIRTUES OF AGUARDIENTE — " PUR- 
CHASING AN elephant" MORE " PIEDRAS ANTIGUAS" — THE ISLAND ONCE IN- 

BABITED — SUPPOSED CAUSEWAY TO THE MAIN LAND— A PERILOUS NIGHT VOY- 
AGE DIFFICULT LANDING ^ALACRAN OR* SCORPION DANCE — A FOOT MARCH IN 

THE FOREST — THE " HACIENDA DE LAS VACAS" AGAIN — SCANT SUPPER — RETURN 
TO LEON — THE IDOL SENT, VIA CAPE HORN, TO W^HINGTON — A SATISFIED 

PADRE IDOLS FROM 8UBTIABA — MONSTROUS HEADS — VISIT TO AN ANCIENT 

TEMPLE FRAGMENTS — MORE IDOLS — INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS — " EL TORO" — 

LIGHTING ON TWO LEGS — ^A CHASE AFTER HORSES — SWEET REVENGE — " CAPILLA 
DE LA PIEDRa" — PLACE OF THE IDOL — ^THE FRAY FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA — 
BOW HE CONVERTED THE INDIANS — PROBABLE HISTORY OF MY IDOLS — THE 

ANCIENT CHURCH '^LA MERCEDES DE SUBTIABa" ITS RUINS — GARRAPA- 

TAS TROPICAL INSECTS SNAKES AND SCORPIONS VerStlS FLEAS AND WOOD- 
TICKS A CHOICE OF EVILS. 

Amongst the objects of interest which early attracted my 
attention in Leon, was an ancient figure or statue of stone, 
planted at one of the corners of the principal plaza. It was 
of basalt, boldly sculptured, and represented a man with his 
hands clasped on his breast, and apparently seated upon 
iJome kind of pedestal. The lower part of the figure, how- 
ever, had been broken, and the fragment which remained 
Mras little more than one-third of the original length. A 



302 NICARAQDA — NARRATIVE. 

aHet was represented bound around the brow, and the bead 
was surmounted by a bead-dress somewhat resembling those 
which are to be observed in some of the ancient Egyptian 
sculptures. The face was perfect, with the exception of a 
part of the mouth, which had been broken, and the eyes 
were apparently closed. The whole expression was grave 




and serene, and yet so characteristic, that I could not reaiat 
the impression that it was copied after a living model. The 
accompanying engraving will convey a very correct idea of 
the original, which I procured and presented to the Smith- 
sonian InHtitution at Washington, where it is now deposited. 
The back of the figure is square, grooved on the edge, and 
notched entirely across, so as to resemble overlapping platen 
II will be observed that the shoulders appear to be untiata- 



ANTIQUARIAN EXPEDITION. 808 

rally elevated ; but upon closer examination it will be seen 
that the original design seems to have been to represent the 
figure in the act of supporting some heavy body ; suggesting 
the probability that this, in conjunction with others of sim- 
ilar design, once supported an altar, or another and still 
larger statue. The flat top fiivors this supposition. 

I found, upon inquiry, that this figure, together with many 
others, had been obtained fi'om the island of Momotombita, 
in Lake Managua, where there were still a number of inter- 
esting monuments. I at once proposed an expedition to the 
island, and availing myself of the time pending the com- 
mencement of my negotiations with the government, set out 
on the 26th of July, in company with Dr. Livingston, and 
Padre Paul, editor of **E1 Correo del Istmo," the govern- 
ment paper, who was curious in matters of this kind. The 
Padre was a native of Spain, where he had received a liberal 
education, but by some mistake had become a priest. I say 
mistake, not because the Padre was not a good priest, but 
because nature had intended him for a licenciado, or a poli- 
tician, if not for a traveller. The government, some days 
previous to our departure, had sent orders to Managua for 
boats to be in readiness at a point on the lake, nearest the 
island, called " Piedras Gordas," and there to await our arri- 
val. It was late in the afternoon when we left the city for 
Pueblo Nuevo, where we proposed to pass the night. The 
road was the same over which we had travelled in our jour- 
ney to Leon ; but the season was now further advanced, and 
the great plain was shrouded with a vegetation three-fold more 
luxuriant than before. The maize, which a few weeks pre- 
viously hardly covered the ground, was now breast high ; 
the cactus fences too were relieved by yellow flowers, and 
the inner leaves surrounding the stalk, bending outward, dis- 
played their delicate pink linings to the sun. 

The Padre was moimted on a splendid mule, gaily capari- 
soned, and with his cassock tucked up, heavy riding boots, 



804 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

and massive silver spurs, followed by his servant, with an 
** alforjas," full of edibles, made a dashing figure at the head 
of our little cavalcade. He rode like a trooper, and seemed 
to enjoy the freedom of the forest quite as much as any sin- 
ner. A stranger might have taken him for a soldier in dis- 
guise, or an eager lover speeding to a distant mistress. It 
was a tearing ride, that twenty-four miles to Pueblo Nuevo, 
and in less than three hours we dismounted at the door of the 
house where I had slept on my previous journey. The old lady 
and her five daughters had had no warning of our coming, 
and were evidently mortified to be found sans satin slippers, 
and with hair dishevelled. But before supper was ready 
they all made their appearance in full costume, as before, and 
we ventured upon a compliment or two by way of compen- 
sating for the contretemps of our sudden arrival. 

We found that it was yet upwards of three leagues to the 
"Piedras Gordas" where our boat was waiting, and as we 
were anxious to be there by sunrise, we resolved to proceed 
to a cattle estate, near the place, that night. The Padre did 
not relish the idea of leaving comfortable quarters for the 
doubtful accommodations of the " hacienda de las vacas" and 
was eloquent in describing the difficulties and dangers of 
riding through unfrequented forest paths in the night time ; 
but the Padre was in a minority, and had to submit. We 
accordingly procured a guide, and started. For a couple of 
miles we kept the main road, and got along smoothly ; we 
then turned off at right angles into the forest. The night 
was exceedingly dark, and the path narrow, and even in the 
daytime obscure. But our guide seemed entirely at home, 
and we followed as well as we were able. Occasionally he 
shouted " cuidado ! " "take care," which was the signal to Gill 
flat on our horses, in order to escape the limbs and branches 
of the trees. But notwithstanding all our caution, we got 
some most ungentle thumps and scratches, and were several 
times nearly dragged from our saddles. Once we became 



HACIENDA DE LAS YACAS. 806 

entangled for a quarter of an hour, in the top of a fallen tree, 
and had literally to cut our way through it with our swords 
and machetes. The Padre considerately kept in the rear, and 
got the benefit of all our experiences. Our progress was 
necessarily very slow, and I began to fear that we had lost 
our way, and almost to repent that we had not taken the 
Padre's advice, when we heard the lowing of cattle and the 
barking of dogs in the distance. Thus encouraged, we pressed 
on, and soon came into a broader path. We pursued this for 
some distance, the barking of the dogs becoming every 
moment more distinct, imtil finally emerging fix)m the woods, 
we galloped towards a little eminence, where a number of 
fires proclaimed the existence of the cattle rancho. It was 
surrounded by a kind of stockade, or fence of upright posts, 
and, as we approached, we were saluted with a ferocious 
^^ Quten vivet^^ who are you? Night descents by robbers, 
on the haciendas, during civil disturbances in the country, 
are by no means uncommon occurrences; and as the estates 
have usually a considerable number of men attached to them, 
they sometimes result in severe fights. Our approach had 
therefore alarmed the establishment, and had not our guide 
been known, we might have been turned back with a volley, 
instead of having the gate opened to us with an invitation to 
enter. In the centre of the square was a mud house, sur- 
rounded by a thatched shed, beneath which a dozen ham- 
mocks were suspended. Three or four fires were smoulder- 
ing just outside of this shed, and around them were reclining 
some calves which had been bitten by bats, or injured by 
wild animals. A dozen surly dogs stalked amongst the 
swarthy "vaqueros," or herdsmen, whose half naked figures 
were just visible by the feint red light of the fires. A 
couple of women, alarmed by the sound of voices, hurried, 
Bcantily dressed, from the house, but were at once reassured 
by the Padre. Altogether, with the champing horses, and 



806 NICABAGUA— NABRATIVS. 

the gleaming of arms, shut in as it was by the dartnftflfl ai 
with a pall, the scene was singularly wild and picturesque. 

The animals attended to, the next thing was to dispose 
ourselves for the night The women offered us the house, 
in which were two naked hide beds. My bones were ago- 
nized at the sight of them, and I chose a hammock beneath 
the shed, and wrapping myself in my blanket, tumbled in. 
The men gave up their places without grumbling, and 
stretched themselves on the bare earth. Soon all was still| 
except the melancholy howl of the " mono Colorado," and 
the low, distant murmur of the lake. I slept soundly until 
roused by Ben's morning gun at the earliest dawn. He had 
already prepared a cup of chocolate, which, with a cracker 
and SLJicara of firesh nulk, constituted our breakfast The 
horses were saddled, and giving the princely sum of a rial 
each to the men whom we had so summarily dislodged, we 
started for the lake. The road was through a beautiful 
forest of large trees, which the cattle kept comparatively free 
from underbrush, and which had occasional open places, 
where the ground was covered with long fresh grass. Half 
an hour brought us to the shore. The sun had not yet risen, 
but a brilliant coronet of rays shot up above the sharply 
defined and &ntastic outlines of the distant mountains of 
Segovia, and was reflected in the tremulous waters of the 
lake. Inmiediately in front, towered the volcano of Momo- 
tombo; its lower half purple in the shade, and its upper of 
the richest amoer. A thin column of smoke rose almost 
perpendicularly from its summit, which first caught the crim- 
son rays of the sun, and then changed to gold. Upon the 
right, a perfect cone, was the island for which we were 
bound, and in the foreground our boat, half drawn up on 
the shore, and near by, at the root of a great tree, clustering 
around their breakfEist fire, was its crew. They had been 
encamped here for two days, awaiting our arrival; and 



LAKE MANAGUA. 807 

would have waited a month for that matter — ^for what was 
time to them, so long as the lake furnished fish, and plantains 
were plenty ? 

Our horses were fastened to a long rope, one behind the 
other, and sent back in charge of our guide to the hacienda, 
with express instructions to have them on the shore again at 
nightfall, in case we should return. Our boat, like some of 
the bongos on Lake Nicaragua, was hollowed from the single 
trunk of a cebia tree. It was upwards of forty feet long, and 
full six feet broad, permitting a tall man to lie across its bot- 
tom. There was no wind, and the men were obliged to take 
to their oars. And as it was not greatly out of our way, we 
determined before going to the island to pass to the foot of 
the great volcano, and visit the hot springs at its base. The 
intervening bay is upwards of ten miles broad, but we crossed 
it before nine o'clock. While on the lake, we had an excel- 
lent opportunity to view the volcano. It is about six thou- 
sand feet, or one mile and a fourth, in perpendicular height, 
and very steep, — so steep, indeed, that even if there were no 
danger in the ascent, it would probably be impossible to 
reach its summit Its lower half is covered with trees, which 
in the ravines that seam its sides run up still higher, gradu- 
ally narrowing like the points of a ruflF. The upper half 
seems made up of scoria, which, near the summit, gives place 
to ashes of a white color. The crater appears small and reg- 
ular in outline ; and there are some openings on the sides, 
towards its base, which emit steam and smoke, and around 
which sulphur is deposited on the rocks. These are called 
"infemales," and we observed one on the side towards us, 
at a comparatively small elevation, which greatly excited our 
curiosity, and which we resolved to visit. 

At the point where we landed, the ground was composed 
of a kind of ochery earth, of a dark red color, varied with 
yellow, which the boatmen told us was used for paint. A 
fourth of a mile to the right, and immediately at the edge of 



808 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

the lake, were the " fuentes calientes," or hot springs. They 
are hundreds in number; in fSsu^t, for a considerable extent, 
the ground was covered with white incrustations, resembling 
a field of snow; and as we walked over it, the sound of the 
water beneath was like that of a violently boiling cauldron. 
There were numerous openings, from which rose colunms of 
steam, and where the water boiled up to the height of from 
six inches to two feet. Around some of these places the de* 
posites had gradually built up little cones, with openings in 
the centre, where the clear water bubbled as in a kettle. I 
sent specimens of the deposites to the United States for 
analysis, but they xmfortunately miscarried, and I am conse- 
quently imable to give the constituents of which they are 
made up. They will no doubt be duly announced when the 
" Grand Volcano Hotel, and North American Natural Hot 
Spring Bath Establishment," shall be opened for invalids, 
on the shores of Lake Managua. 

Between the shore and the true base of the volcano is a 
gentle slope, ridged with beds of lava, which run down into 
the lake, but which have become disintegrated on the surface, 
and are now covered with coarse grass, bushes, and clumps 
of trees. Here cattle from distant haciendas are allowed to 
roam from one year's end to the other, until they become 
almost as wild as the deer themselves. The vaqueros occa- 
sionally visit them, to mark the young ones, or to select the 
best ones for sale, but beyond this they receive no care or 
attention. We started over this slope, in the direction of 
the smoking orifice which we had observed from the lake. 
But we were under the lee of the mountains, where not a 
breath of wind reached us, and exposed to the frill glow of 
the sun ; and before we had gone a mile, we almost repented 
of our undertaking. The doctor, the padre, and myself 
alone persisted in proceeding. The surface became rougher 
as we advanced, and scrubby trees and thorny bushes im- 
peded our progress, and shut out from view the place which 



VOLCANIC VENTS. 809 

we were struggling to reach. We next came to ridges of 
treaclieroiis, scoriaceonssand, which yielded beneath our feet, 
and which we only ascended by clinging to the clumps of 
grass which grew here and there, and by driving our swords 
to their hilts in the ground, as supports. But our progress 
was alow and painftil, and we were compelled to pause every 
second minute to recover our strength. Finally, the sun 
was no longer hot, it was withering, and the dry scori» be- 
came blistering to the touch. I looked up towards the top 
of the volcano, and shall never forget its utterly bald and 
desolate appearance. The atmosphere on its sides seemed to 
undulate with heat, and the reflected rays burned my eye- 
balls. I turned to my companions, and found that they suf- 
fered equally with myself. The padre had wisely bound his 
handkerchief over his head and eyes. It was folly, he said, 
to attempt to go further, and we concurred with him, and 
retraced our steps. The descent was of course comparatively 
easy, but when I reached the boat, I was completely exhaust- 
ed, and adequately convinced of the folly of attempting to 
dimb volcanoes under a tropical sun, at mid-day. 

Oviedo speaks of this volcano as one very high, " its sum- 
mit pierced by a multitude of separate orifices, whence smoke 
is always rising, which can be seen at the distance of twenty 
leagues. No flame," he continues, "is visible by day or 
night. An abundance of sulphur may be found here, accord- 
ing to the report of those who have used it in the manufec- 
ture of powder, and also of those who have used it for other 
purposes. On the sides and parts adjacent to this volcano, 
for a distance of five or six leagues, there is an abundance of 
springs of boiling water like the Sufretarari, (Solfatara,) 
that may be seen at Pouzzole, two or three leagues firom 
Naples. I should think that all these mountains formed but 
one mine of sulphur. There are also orifices through which 
proceeds a stream of air, so warm as to be unendurable. If 
we approach it, we seem to hear the uproar of a vast number 



310 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

of forges in full blast, sometimes ceasing, and in a few 
moments recommencing again ; but the time the noise can be 
heard is at least four times as long as the pauses. Near the 
"tillage of Totoais a thermal spring, so warm that the Indians 
use it for cooking their meat, fish, and bread. These articles 
of food are cooked in less time than it would take to repeat 
the Credo twice ; and as for eggs, they would be done sooner 
than an Ave,^'* 

We found our men quietly smoking their cigars under the 
shade of a tree, perfectly careless as to whether they stayed 
there all day or proceeded. Such an imperturbable set I 
yerily believe were never before got together. We told 
them to push off for the island, which they did in the most 
leisurely manner. The wind had begun to blow, and as it 
was ag^i^t us, they towed the boat along under the lee of 
the shore, walking by its side in the water, which, at the 
distance of a quarter of a mile out, was hardly breast-deep. 
We saw many deer, and a number of lazy alligators on the 
shore, but beyond the reach of our rifles. We finally came 
to the " Punta del Pajaro," a high ledge of naked basaltic 
rocks projecting out into the lake, and covered with myriads 
of water-fowls. Here our men took to their oars, and paddled 
direct for the island. The afternoon wind was now blowing 
strongly, and the lake was rough. It required two hours' 
hard rowing to bring us to the island, where we pulled ashore 
in a little cove, protected from the swell of the lake. 

This island is volcanic, and rises in a regular cone fi"om the 
water's edge, to the height of two thousand eight hundred 
feet. It is about eight miles in circumference, and is covered 
with a dense forest. The shore where we landed was stony, 
but a short distance back the stones gave place to sand and a 
rich loam. Victorino, our patron, knew the locality of the 
monuments, and putting on his sandals, took his machete, 
and led the way, peering suspiciously to the right and the 
left. We inquired the cause of his caution, and received the 



JSLAmy OF MOMOTOMBITA. 811 

oomfortdng assurance "haj muclios cascabeles/' ''there 
are many rattlesnakes I " The Dr. whipped out his sword, 
stepped high, and constantly startled us by mistaking vines, 
coiling on the ground, for "cascabeles." After proceeding 
for about half an hour, we came to a spot where the under- 
brush and bushes gave place to high grass. Here was a kind 
of natural amphitheatre, within which the ground was smooth, 
sloping gently towards the lake, and shadowed over with 
high trees. This, Victorino informed us, was the site of the 
monuments, but they had all fallen, and the tall grass hid 
them fipom our view. We were compelled to beat it down 
with our machetes, and thus discover the figures one by 
one. As I have said, many had been carried away, and 
most of those which remained were broken, or so defaced as 
to be of little value for my purposes. Victorino said that he 
could remember when there were as many as fifty statues 
here, and when some of them stood erect. According to his 
account and that of others, they had been arranged in the 
form of a square, their fiwses looking inwards ; and the posi- 
tion of those which remained, and of the fi:^ments, confirmed 
the story. Amongst the few still entire, was one of large 
aze, and which a party, sent by the English Consul, had a 
few years before endeavored to carry away for the British 
Museum, but after getting it part of the way to the lake, had 
abandoned it in despair. It was ruder than some of the 
others, but perfect, and I at once resolved to remove it, with 
a view of sending it to the United States. I accordingly sent 
Tictorino to bring his boat and men to the nearest point 
possible, and with Dr. Livingston, the Padre, and Ben, began to 
cut down small trees of the proper size for skids or pries, and 
to open a path to the lake. When Victorino came with his 
lazy crew, we set them to work also, but they did not accom- 
plish much, and we soon foimd that we had to bear the 
burthen of the labor ourselves. With great difficulty we 
cleared a road, and laying down large skids rolled the figure 



312 



N IC ARAQUA— N ABBATIVB. 



Upon them. Beneath it a colony of "alacrane del raonte," 
or black scorpions, had catablisbod themselves; and in an 
instant they swarmed around our legs. The balf naked 
Indians retreated jirecipitately, 
but, protected by our liigli, thick 
boots we stood our ground, and 
stamped the little stinging mon- 
sters lo death with our heels. 
It was not, however, until we 
had succeeded in moving the 
statue some distance from the 
spot, that we could persuade 
the Indians to rejoin us. After 
two Lours' of hard work, we 
rolled it to the shore; but now 

. the question was to get it in 
the boat. Victorino protested, 
in the first place, against trying 

, lo carrj' it at all, as it would 

, surely crush the boat and 
drown tia; and in the second 

t place against putting it in the 
bottom, which he said it would 
inevitably break through. In 

' fact we were a good deal stag- 
gered ourselves; we liad not 
thought of this, but neverthe- 
less determined not lo lose our 



PIXDRAS ANTIQDAS. 818 

labor. If it was put at the bottom, even tliough it might not 
break through, it was clear that we never could muster force 
enough to get it out. So we decided that it should be carried 
bj placing it lengthwise on the rowers' seats, which, in order to 
sapportthe weight, wereto be strengthened by crossbars. The 
men stood aghast at our proposition, and at first utterly refused 
to assist us. They took the padre aside and told him that 
"these Americans were certainly crazy." We however pro- 
mised them each a half dollar extra, administered a dose of 




brandy and water, and finally got them to take hold again 
An inclined plane of timbers was built up against the boat, 
which was half filled with stones, to sink her as low as possi 
ble, and to fix her firmly in the sand. The statue was then 
gradually rolled on board. More than once I thought our 
fitbric would break down ; had it done so there would have 
been more crushed legs than whole ones in the company. 
After it was secured, part of the stones were thrown out, and 
m soon had the satirfaction of seeing the bongo afloat, and 
perfectly balanced. A profile view of this figure is given in 
the foregoing engraving. It is regularly cut in black ba- 
40 



314 KICABAOOA — NARRATIVZ. 

Bait, or trachyte, of intenae hardneaB. The featnies of the 
face are ongularlj bold and severe in outline ; the brow is 
broad, the nose aquiline, the cheeks high, the mouth open, 
and containiog what ire may infer (for reasons which will be 
given elsewhere) was intended to represent a human heart 
The arms and legs are rudely indicated, but the distinctive 
sexual features are broadly marked. And here it may be 
observed tJutt, while most of these statues represent males, 




gome of them represent females ; and there are but few in 
which the sex ia not distinguishable. The reason for these dis- 
tinctions may be found in the fact that the doctrine of the Ke- 
ciprocal Principles of Nature, or Nature Active and Passive 
Male and Female, was recognized in nearly all the primitive 
religious systems of the New as well as of the Old "World, and 
in none more clearly than in those of Central America. Be- 
sides this 6gure, we carried off the colossal head represented 
in the above drawing; but found nothing more which would 



TRADITIONAL OAUSBWAY. 815 

repay the trouble of removal. There may have been other 
figures of interest hidden in the long grass and bushes ; and 
Viotorino informed us that upon the opposite side of the 
island there was still another place, where %here were formerly 
many "piedras antiguas; " but that also was overgrown 
with grass. It was now late, and unless we spent the night 
on the island, it was clear we could make no Airther examina- 
tions. And as I proposed to return in the dry season, when 
the grass might be removed by burning, we concluded to 
relinquish our explorations for the present. 

The island of Momotombita was anciently inhabited, and 
called Cocobolo. I observed fragments of pottery, and of 
vessels of stone, strewed all over the shore; and in the little 
cove where we landed there were evidences that the rocks 
had been rolled away to facilitate the approach of boats to 
the land. At a point on the shore of the main land, nearly 
opposite the island, is a line of large stones, extending for 
the distance of one or two hundred yards into the water, and 
projecting above it. The Indians have a vague tradition 
that this was a causeway built by " los antiguos habitantes," 
extending from the shore to the island ; and Capt. Belcher, of 
the British navy, who travelled here in 1838, seems to think 
the story not improbable. The supposed causeway is nothing 
more than a narrow vein of rock injected at some remote 
period through a fissure in the superior strata or crust of the 
earth; and being harder than the materials surrounding it, 
has retained its elevation, while they have been worn away 
by the action of the water. 

It was quite sunset when we pushed oflf from the island ; 
and when we got out from under its lee, we found the wind 
blowing a gale, and the sea high. Ours was a ticklish load ; 
and, as the bongo had no keel, the necessity of keeping her 
directly before the wind was obvious ; for had she rolled a 
ft)ot on either side, the stone would have overset us in a 
twinkling. Victorino was anxious but cool, and his men 



816 NICARAGUA— NABBATIYB. 

were too mucli alarmed not to obey orders, and we put up 
the sail and got under way without accident. Fortunately 
the winds here blow with great steadiness, or our voyage 
might have been rendered more perilous than it was, and 
that would have been quite unnecessary. The night fell, 

dark and cloudy ; the Padre and M soon became seasick, 

Mid the crew, consoling themselves that we had a priest on 
board, gathered around the foot of the mast, and silently told 
their beads. Ben stationed himself, knife in hand, at the 
halyards, and I clung to a stick of light wood which I found 
in the boat, and calculated the chances of getting ashore by 
its aid, in case our stone god should upset us. Altogether 
we had a serious time, and the three hours which we occu- 
pied in passing to the land seemed quite as long as six under 
ordinary circumstances. It was so dark that we could 
not distinguish the shore, but fortunately the fire, left by the 
men in the morning, &nned by the wind, had caught in the 
trimk of the tree at the foot of which it was built, and an- 
swered the purpose of a lighthouse 'in guiding us to our 
destination. Here we succeeded in landing under the lee of 
some large rocks, against which the surf broke with the 
force and noise of the ocean. I now quite comprehended 
why Capt. Belcher, old salt as he was, declined venturing 
upon this lake, even after having brought a boat for the 
purpose all the way from Realejo. I felt no ordinary degree 
of satisfaction when I found myself on terra firma once more. 
In removing the loose articles of our equipment from the 
boat, Ben was twice stung in the hand by a scorpion, and 
danced about the shore in an agony of pain. I however 
wrapped his hand in a cloth soaked in brandy, and gave him 
copious internal doses of the same, — the best, and usually 
the most accessible, remedy. 

Our horses were not to be found ; either our guide had not 
brought them down, or else had returned with them to the 
rancheria. We held a council as to whether it was best to 



A NIGHT MABCH. 817 

eamp on the shore or push through the forest to our quarters 
of the preceding night. The uncomfortable wind and a few 
heavy drops of rain decided us ; and, with Victorino, bearing 
some brands of fire at our head, we set out. It was as dark 
as Erebus m the woods, and quite impossible to discern the 
person next in advance. We however followed the fire, and 
after a weary march came to the hacienda. We were tired 
and hungry, but there was nothing to eat except tiste and 
curds. We made the most of these, but went to our ham- 
mocks unsatisfied, consoling ourselves, however, with the 
prospect of an illimitable breakfast at the house of our host- 
ess of the five slippered daughters, in Pueblo Nuevo. 

Before leaving next morning, I distributed the promised 
fevors amongst our crew, and engaged the entire force of the 
estate to assist our guide, who was to return with a cart for 
the statue. A few days after, it reached Leon, having broken 
down three carts on the road. I subsequently sent it to 
Realejo, whence it w^ shipped, via Cape Horn, for the 
United States. It is now deposited in the Museum of the 
Smithsonian Institution, at Washington. And thus termi- 
nated my first antiquarian episode in Nicaragua. The Padre 
expressed himself satisfied ; one such ride, he said, was 
enough for a lifetime. 

I have elsewhere said that the Indians of Subtiaba brought 
me two idols, shortly after my arrival in Leon. A reduced 
back view of the first of these is presented in the subjoined 
engraving. It had been broken, and a portion, perhaps 
comprising one-third of the entire figure, had been lost. The 
part which remains is something less than six feet in height 
by eighteen inches in diameter, or upwards of four feet in 
circumference. The face has been battered with heavy 
sledges, and its features obliterated. The ornaments upon 
the back and elsewhere are, however, very well preserved, 
and are quite elaborate ; more resembling those of Copan 
than any others discovered in the countrv. The fece seems 



318 



NICARAGUA — NAKBATIVK. 



to project through the widely distended jaws of some ani- 
mal, the head of which serves ss & head dress. The andent 
Mexican soldiers had a commoD practice of wearing the 
heads of animals, or helmets in imitation of them, on their 
heads in battle, to render themselves horrible, and frighten 
their enemies. Upon its breast the figure sustains a kind of 
plate, or some piece of armor, and upon its right arm wears 




a shield. The carving seems to have been very good ; but the 
zeal of the early Christians, and the corroding tooth of time, 
have greatly injured the entire statue, which is now in the 
Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, 
Idol fbom Subtiaba, No. 2.— This figure closely resem- 



IDOLS FBOH SUBTIABA. 



S19 



that jost described, and, like that, has suffered greatly 
the same cause. The features of the face are eDtireljr 
»ated ; the design of the head dress is, however, more 
rent, and ia palpably what 1 have already indicated, the 



Side. 



Back. 




of some monstrous animal, between which the face of 
igure projects. It is less elaborately sculptured than 
[, but of the same material, and corresponding in size, 
hand rests upon the breast, the other hangs loosely at 
ide. This idol also is deposited in the museum of the 
tisonian Institution. 

7l£ FROM Sdbtiaba, No. 3. — Subsequent to the pre- 
tion of the two figures above described, I had a frag- 



320 



NICA&JiairA — JIARWATI V K. 



ment brought to me, of wbicL a front view is given in the 
annexed engra\-iDg. It is of eand-atont!, two feet six iiicbes 
liigb, by ten or twelve inclioa in di- 
laieter, much frayed uod worn by 
exposure, and gretitly injured bj 
violence. It beara cvidencea of 
liaving been elaborately orna- 
mented, and seems to have been 
designed to represent a female- 
Its moat angular fenture, how- 
ever, is a mask of the human 
face, which is held ujion the ab- 
domen by both bands. Perhaps, 
however, the Indians were right 
in suggesting that it repreiieats 
an opening in the abdomen, hold 
apart by llie hands, and exposing 
some niytliological figure therein 
- concealed. There are some rea- 
' sons in support of this suggestion, 
which it woitld hardly be proper 
to submit in a work of this jiopu- 
lar character. Tliis figure had also been broken, and leas 
thim half of it now remains. 

The idoU above described, as I have already eoiH, were 
brought, to my house by the Indians ; and 1 know nothing 
coneeniing them, except that they were exhumed near the 
base of the Cerro Santiago, to the south-west of Leon, where 
they had been buried for several generations. I suhse- 
qucntly learned of the exiHtence of others in the same direo- 
tJon, and went, in company with a guide, kindly obtained for 
me by Gen. Guerrero, to examine them. Our route lay 
through Subtiaba, in the direction of the ocean. We pasaed 
over a beautiful undulating country, full of abandoned plao* 
tatious, and watered by several fine streams, skirting tbe 
hills to the south-west of Leon. At the distanue of abgat 



II. riuilt SDBTUBl, 90. X 




IDOLS OF 5lla^\^a^,w^. 



I 



MORE MOXDMKNTS. 321 

tkree or four leiignos from the city, wo came to a Eeries of 
"jicairales," in the midst of wliicli was a callle estate. Cows 
uhI deer were bcrtling tugetlier, tbc latterappearingcjuitc tt& 
tonic OS the first. Birjond the hacienda was a high, bare hill. 
Bleep aa tUe iiyraniidit, called Mount St. Michael, llie batto uf 
whictli is slutldtid round with large looau iitout;^, f:.iiuiti^ 
cHir horses to stumblo fuarfully, and ovur which wc im.ssi.'d 
witli gnait difficwlty. Wc then came to the finest "jica- 
ni" 1 had jirt. seen. It resembled a well-kept New Eng- 
land orchard; the trcea had fewer panuiteii to rob thom 
of their vitality, and the ground was covered witU u 8in<jt>tli 
carpet of grant. Inlurmixud with these W(*rc numbers gfllit- 
wild* " joootc" or plum-trees, bcavUy kden vrith yellow and 
red frail, wbicb was uot unfilcnsant to Uie tasUi, but which 
[wisoncd my lips, and minic th«m soro for a weok. The 
samu fruit, when ciillivuted, is fine, and in used in a great 
vnricty of ways. The fortsi in wbicb the idols were con- 
ceok-d commcuocd abruptly upon one side of tbe "jicaial," 
and was an almost imixinctrablc 'mass of vines, uiiderlirn&b, 
and brond'lcaved troiiicul plants. A thousand moiiiimeuts 
might hav« been buried here for years n-itbout tieing diseov- 
orcd, except I ly the merest accident ; and as we bad to cut our 
path with our sworde, I beg.iu to have serious iniBgivings as 
to the liiiroi-ss of our cspedilion. Our guide, liowever, peer- 
int; from side to ade, eecmcd confident a.-^tohiswburtmbout.-', 
as Wfll 8.4 to that of the "picdras," and in hidf mi hour we 
oune to tbu spot where they bad existed. I say bul existed, 
tJt iilthoii^b the ground was sdewn with &;^;;ments, but a 
«Jngle figiirt^, "Uxih rROM ScmiABA, No. 4," remained 
optire. It stood as shown in lh<? wwjnipanying plate, par- 
tially buried in the earth. Ila hcijiht ohove th« ground was 
•ix fbet funr ini.'bi.'9; lite material, saud-stonc. As in tlie 
Mller instanoca, the face had been mutilated, but the reniain- 
d« of tlie figure was neariy perfect. The hair seemed to be 
thrown back from the Ibrehead in rolls; or pt-Hmiis nliat I 
41 



822 laCARAGUA— NABBATIVE. 

have supposed to be the hair is a modified example of that 
kind of ornamental featherwork so common in the ancient 
monuments of Mexico, Yucatan, and Central America. A 
broad collar passes around the neck, and a circular plate, or 
shield, with an attempt at a representation of a human face in 
the centre, is suspended jBx)m it, in front of the figure. A kind 
of belt passes around the body, above the hips, firom which 
depends a flap, like that frequently worn by the Indians of 
the ftontiers, even to this day. At the lower extremity of 
this is a round,- cup-shaped hole, capable of containing about 
a quart, the purposes of which are not apparent. 

In cutting paths around this figure, I came upon an oblong 
elevation of stones, which seemed to have been the base of 
some edifice, or one of the ancient teocallis or altars of the 
aborigines. It was about two hundred feet long, sixty broad, 
and ten high. Around the edges the stones still retained 
some degree of regularity, but the whole was nevertheless a 
ruin, and largo trees were growing on its summit. The nu- 
merous fragments of sculpture scattered around this spot 
showed conclusively that it had been visited by systematic 
violence, not only anciently, at the period of the Conquest, 
but subsequently, and within a very few years. My guide 
told me that he could remember the time when the Indians 
came here secretly by night, and performed strange dances 
around these idols, and poured out libations before them. 
The ground around the single erect figure above described 
was comparatively free firom undergrowth, showing that even 
now it is secretly visited, Ijy the descendants of the people 
who first erected it, for the performance of traditionary, 
sacred ceremonies. The priests are vigilant in detecting and 
putting down these remnants of idolatry ; and only a few 
months before my arrival had broken up a remarkable figure 
of an animal called " El Toro,'* the bull, which existed about 
a league distant from this very spot, and to which the In- 
dians, for a long time, openly resorted, to make oflferings of 



JL STAMPEDS. 828 

tistej and to perform dances preparatory to putting their crops 
in the ground. The destruction of the idol was effected se- 
cretly, and afterwards proclaimed to have been done by the 
lightnings of indignant heaven; but one of my Indian firiends 
told me privately that the Indians understood the trick, and 
knew that this lightning went on two legs, and wore a cas- 
sock I I would have gone to the spot, and endeavored to 
have restored the fragments for a sketch, but my guide told 
me that the natives had carried them off and buried them. 

While engaged with the stones, we had carelessly, and as 
usual, let our horses go loose. For the first time, they now 
took it into their heads to abuse this indulgence, and trotted 
offl The more we endeavored to coax them back the more 
vicious they were, and finally dashed off at full speed into 
the "jicaral," where they kicked up their heels in great 
glee. The prospect of a walk back to Leon, with the loss of 
saddles, pistols, swords, and other et ceteras, if not of the 
brutes themselves, was little calculated to excite our admira- 
tion of these antics. The chase continued half an hour, 
when we succeeded in securing the horse of our guide ; but 
unfortunately he was the poorest of the whole, and not able 
to come near the others in a race. Luckily our guide had 
a lasso, and after another half hour of manoeuvring, in which 
we all got heated and angry, my own horse was secured. 
He was duly ^^ lathered" for his pains, and was handed over 
to the guide to pursue the others ; being the fleetest, the busi- 
ness was soon done. We took precious good care that they 
should not get the upper hand of us again that day, and 
rode them home with a malignant pressure on the terrible 
'Mexican bit, and with no stinted application of the equally 
terrible Spanish- American spur. 

Upon our return, the guide conducted us out of our way 
into a kind of amphitheatre amongst the hills, to what he 
called the "Capilla de la Piedra," the Stone Chapel. It 
was a large rock of conical shape, placed high on the slope 



324 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

facing the entrance to this natural circus, and upon that side 
had a niche, or hollow, capable of containing four or five 
persons, and which seemed to have been cut in the rock. 
I failed to satisfy myself whether it was natural or arti- 
ficial ; but finally concluded, from its position and regularity, 
that it was a natural opening in the rock, enlarged and 
modified by art. There were traces of fire, and fragments of 
broken pottery around it, and immediately in front a large 
flat stone, which might have been used for an altar. As I 
looked at it, surrounded by rough, frowning rocks, and 
shrouded with vines, I fancied it an appropriate niche for an 
idol, and imagined this natural amphitheatre filled with a 
superstitious multitude, in blind adoration before it, while 
the blood of himian sacrifices flowed perhaps on the very 
spot where I now stood. 

I have said that I knew not whence the Indians obtained 
the idols which they brought to me, beyond that they were 
exhumed at the base of the Cerro de Santiago, near Subtiaba. 
Now the Fray Francisco de Bobadilla, of the Order of 
Mercy, was especially active in the conversion of the Indians 
of Nicaragua, which process, according to the chronicler 
Oviedo y Valdcz, consisted in baptizing them, giving them a 
Christian name, and exacting forty grains of cacao ! Boba- 
dilla converted forty thousand in three months in the domin- 
ions of the cazique of Nagrando, whoso principal town was 
where the city of Leon now stands. He also prevailed upon 
the cazique to allow him to throw down the idols which 
stood in "the spacious and sumptuous temple which the 
Indians, under the special direction of the devil, had erected 
there," and to set up the cross in their slead. After he had * 
battered the faces of these idols with a mace, Bobadilla threw 
them down from their high places, intending to burn them 
with fire, in order to show the Indians the impotence of their 
teots; but, "during the night some did take them away and 
buried them, so that they could not be found." And it is 



1 

j 



A RUINED CHURCH. 826 

not unlikely that those are the very idols exhumed for me 
by the Indians of Subtiaba, two of which, after doubling the 
Horn, now frown down upon the " hijos de Washington," 
from the west corridor of the Smithsonian Institution I 

Upon the site of this temple was afterwards built the 
Christian church "La Mercedes de Subtiaba," which for 
more than two hundred years has been in ruins. Its adobe 
walls have subsided into brambly mounds, and all is formless 
save the piers on which its wooden piUars stood, and its low, 
Moorish archway, flanked by two slender columns, which 
rise white and spectral above a tangled mass of verdure. The 
town, of which it was once the centre, has shrunk in the 
lapse of time, and is now a mile distant ; and the aboriginal 
city of which BobadiUa speaks, which covered three square 
leagues, and had more than one hundred thousand inhabit- 
ants, has dwindled to less than one fourth of that number. 
We visited this church on our return. Ben cut away the bushes 
with his machete, and we rode over the outline mounds, and 
stood where the simple Indians had knelt, centuries ago, in 
silent awe before the symbols of a new and imposing religion. 
A few rude wooden crosses marked the deep pits within 
which were heaped the victims of the cholera, when in 1837, 
five years after it had devastated our country, it more than 
decimated the population of Leon. Two or three Indians, 
returning from their daily toil in the fields, hearing our 
voices, pushed their way through the bushes, and reverently 
took off their hats, when they entered the sacred area. We 
asked them if they knew aught of the ancient church, or who 
built it ? " Quien sahe ?" was the sole reply, and they moved 
the forefinger of the right hand slowly back and forth, in 
token of ignorance. It was very ancient, they said — " muy, 
muy antigual" Upon the smooth stucco beneath the arch, 
rudely scratched in the lime, I read, " Juan Peralta, 
Estranjero, 1732." 



826 NICABAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

This church was built before Hudson floated on the waters 
of the magnificent river bearing his name ; before the Pil- 
grims knelt on the wintry shores of New England, and be- 
fore Smith spread the terrors of his arm among the Indians 
of Virginia. And unless some sacrilegious hand shall level 
the ancient archway, it will yet stand for centuries to mark 
the site of aboriginal superstition, and attest the zeal of the 
Fray BobadQla, who baptized forty thousand Indians, receiv- 
ing therefor, if they all " paid up," one million six hundred 
thousand grains of cacao. Pious Bobadilla I 

There are several other ruined and abandoned Christian 
churches now buried in the forests in the suburbs of Subti- 
aba, the dwelling-places of the bats and birds, over whose 
orumbUng walls, and around whose falUng columns, creep 
the wild vines, blooming with flowers, and shedding their 
fragrance above the silent and deserted altars of the Most 
High. Buins upon ruins — Christian church and heathen 
shrine, they have all sunk down together. 

We returned to Leon to find ourselves covered with 
"agarrapatas" or wood ticks, with which the forest fairly 
swarms during the dry season, and which are brushed oflf 
upon travellers by the thousand. They penetrate straight to 
the skin, and bury their heads in the flesh, causing an irrita- 
tion which drives many people to distraction. When once 
fietened it is impossible to detach them by force, without 
leaving the head in the flesh, where it gets along on its own 
account, apparently a great deal better than when encum- 
bered by the body. The only mode of removing them is 
with a ball of soft wax, which is rubbed over the body, and 
to which they adhere. Some are small, hardly visible to the 
naked eye, others are of the size of flax, and even of melon 
seeds; but " the smaller the worser." Next to the fleas they 
rank as the predominant annoyance of the country. Musqui- 
toes (sancudos), in Leon, the principal towns, and the open 



TEOPICAL ANK0YAHCE8. 



827 



^laitB of the oonntiy generally, there are none ; but compared 
-^irith fleas and "agarrapatas," the soakea, scorpiona, "chin- 
«3hee," "saocudos," and all the other abominations of tropical 
«llimate& are mere bagatelle, and scarcely worth the mea- 
■ioiiing. 




CHAPTER XII. 

AMUSEMSKTS IK LKON— COCK nOHTINO — " PATIO DE LOS OALLOS" — DECLINI 
OF THE COCK PIT — QAMINO — BULL BAITINa — NOVEL RIDING — " UNA SAGRADA 
rUNCION," OR MYSTERY — A POEM, AND A DRAMA — " UNA COSfPANLA DE FU- 
NAMBULOS," OR ROPE DANCERS— GREAT ANTICIPATIONS — A NOVEL THEATRE — 
THE PERFORMANCE — " LA JOVENA CATALINA," AND THE " ECCENTRIC CLOWN, 
SIMON," — "tOBILLOS ORUESOS," OR " BIO ANKLES." — "FIESTAS," AND SAINTS* 
DAYS — THE " fiesta" OF ST. ANDREW — DANCE OF THE DEVILS — UNEARTHLY 
MUSIC — ^ALL-SAINTS' DAY — A CARNIVAL IN 8UBTLABA — AN ABRUPT CON- 
CLUSION. 

The novelty of a first visit once worn off, there is little to 
interest the stranger in Leon. There are no " stated" amuse- 
ments, except at the cock-pit, which is open every Sunday 
afternoon. This is always crowded, but not oftien visited by 
the better portion of the population. It is a smooth spot of 
ground in the court-yard of the proprietor's house, fenced in 
by canes to the height of about four feet, surrounded by high 
benches, and covered with a thatched roof. In the corridors 
of the house are little stalls, in which the cocks are kept, 
and here the wife and daughters of the proprietor sell choco- 
late and dulces to the visitors. No liquors are allowed upon 
the premises ; and the Government, with a wise prevision, 
has always an alcalde and a file of soldiers present to pre- 
serve order. Visitors are admitted at a medio a head, and 
each one is at liberty to bring his " bird " with him. If a 
match cannot be made otherwise, the proprietor is obliged 
to accept the challenge of any of his visitors. A certain sum 
is paid to him on each cock entered, one-fourth of which goes 
into the city treasury. I visited the place but once, and 
suppose that the manner of fighting the cocks can afford but 

42 



880 laCABAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

little, of what, I believe, is called " sport." After a matcli 
was made up, the cocks had long, sword-shaped gaffe, double- 
edged, sharp as needles, and in some cases three or four 
inches long, bound on their legs, with which they almost in- 
variably crippled themselves in their preliminary manoeuvers. 
The contests were consequently very brief; one or two 
passes generally finished them. The bets were never high, 
but the excitement none the less in consequence. In former 
times, the proprietor told me, he numbered all the " cabal- 
leros" of the city amongst his visitors, and then golden 
ounces were wagered instead of dirty rials, — and he drew a 
handful of the latter from his pocket with a contemptuous 
sneer, and then violently thrust them back again. He 
longed for a change ; any change would be acceptable to 
him which should bring back the caballeros and the golden 
ounces! 

But because the more respectable people of Leon do not 
frequent the cock-pit, it is not to be inferred that they are 
wholly averse to the species of amusement practised there. 
On the contrary, in the back corridors of the houses, — and 
in none more frequently than in those of the padres, — ^a 
dozen fine cocks may almost always be found, or at all 
events heard, if not seen. Quiet little parties are got up of 
afternoons, cocks fought, and not unfrequently, on such occa- 
sions, if report speaks true, golden ounces find themselves 
suddenly transferred from one " bolsa" to another. 

Gaming is a passion amongst the people of aU Spanish 
America. But in Nicaragua it is conducted with less pub- 
licity and perhaps to a less extent than in most of the Span- 
ish States. Nevertheless, I heard of instances during my 
residence in the country, in which thousands of dollars had 
changed hands in a single evening. The game is, I believe, 
universally, the well-known "7m>nte." There are several 
billiard-rooms in Leon, which seemed to be always full ; but 
they were not very elegant nor even clean. And in the 



JUEGO DE LOS TOROS. 881 

Calle Real there was a licensed gaming-liouse, ^'Casa de 
Juego," the only one, I believe, in the city. It was crowded 
every night by the lower classes of the population. The 
gambling, as might be inferred from the character of its fre- 
quenters, was of a petty kind, — of the " dirty rial'' order of 
our friend of the "patio de los gallos." 

Central America commenced its Eepublican career with 
very sweeping reforms, taking the United States for its 
model. Amongst the earliest acts of its government was the 
prohibition of bull-fighting. The old taste for that amuse- 
ment has not, however, died out, but has assumed a some- 
what different form. It was a festival week in the barrio of 
the Calvario, — what festival I do not remember, for there 
was no end to the fiestas and saint's days, — and we were told 
that it was to end with " uno juego de los toros," or bull 
baiting, (as near as I could understand it,) in the plaza of the 
church of that district. In fact the cura waited upon us in 
person, and invited us to attend. We went in the afternoon, 
and found a high, strong fence built around the square, with 
a supplementary enclosure outside, leading into the larger 
one by a narrow passage closed with heavy bars. The roof 
and towers of the church were covered with people, mostly 
women, and amongst them was a band of music. All around 
the square, and clinging to the fence was a swarm of naked 
muchachos, and outside of these a great number of horse- 
men, who, seated on their steeds, could distinctly witness the 
whole performance. Amongst these we took up our posi- 
tion, the crowd giving us the most commanding place, while 
an officious alcalde whipped the boys oflf the fence in firont, 
so as to allow an uninterrupted view. The music kept up a 
great noise, but the crowd had waited a long time, and were 
impatient, and assuming the universal prerogatives of crowds, 
cried out to the musicos "to stop their noise,'' and to the 
managers " to bring in the bulls." Directly the bars of the 
smaller enclosure were raised, and a horseman dashed in 



882 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVB. 

with a lasso attached to his saddle, dragging after him a 
large black bull, by the horns. He drove at foil gallop 
around the square, and then adroitly pulled the bull, which 
was now furious, to a stout post in the centre, where by a 
few dexterous evolutions he fastened him securely, with his 
head motionless against the post. Three or four men now 
approached, and cautiously, and with much diflSculty, fasten- 
ed an " albardo" or common saddle of the country on the 
back of the bull, securing it firmly by bands around the body 
of the animal. Fireworks were then fastened to its horns 
and tail, and an invitation extended to whoever might choose 
d manejar el taro. Two or three stalwart fellows, ambitious 
of distinction, volunteered, one of whom was chosen. He 
mounted very adroitly, and securing himself in his seat, the 
fireworks were lighted, and the rope cut. The bull bounded 
away amidst the explosion of bombas, the beating of drums, 
and the shouts of the multitude, foaming with rage, making 
awkward but prodigious leaps, and driving at every object 
which came in view. There were three or four horsemen in the 
ring with staves having a little red flag at one end, and a 
sharp spike at the other. These they alternately dashed be- 
fore the eyes of the bull, or drove into his flanks. When the 
fireworks commenced to explode, tne toro no longer made 
at any particular object, but dashed blindly from side to side, 
throwing the rider from his seat into the dust, where, for a 
moment, I thought he would be trampled to death, but he 
scrambled up and made a rapid retreat, evidently more 
frightened than hurt, over the barricade, amidst the jeers of 
the crowd, who would have been better satisfied if he had 
come off with a broken limb or two, or had been killed out- 
right. The exertion was too much for the bull himself, and 
after chasing the horsemen around for awhile, he mjircbed 
off, with his tongue hanging from his mouth, and covered 
with foam, into a corner of the enclosure. There was no 
more sport to be got out of him, and the crowd vociferated 



JUEGO D£ LOS TOROS. SS3 

* * take y^^rn away ! take him away I" So one of the horsemen 
threw a lasso over his horns ancUdragged him out. 

Another bull was then introduced, and the same process 
repeated. But this time the rider kept his seat to the end, 
and for his skill or good luck, got a plentiful supply of vivas 
from the boys, and of waving of scarfs from the women. It 
is impossible to describe the excitement of the multitude 
during the active parts of the exhibition ; some stamped and 
leaped about, and all shouted at the top of their lungs. 
When the bull lacked spirit, they cried " away with the old 
cow I take away the heifer !" and stoned him from the enclo- 
sure. I soon got enough of the exhibition, and would have 
gone off, but the cura prevailed on me to stay for the final 
act, which he said would be " muy glorioso," very glorious. 
Tour bulls were then let loose together, but this time the 
officer in command of the file of soldiers which was present, 
permitted no riders. The precaution was a wise one, for 
only a few months before two men had been killed by way 
of a " grand finale." The bulls, maddened by the noise and 
&reworks flashing in their eyes and whizzing in their ears, 
attacked each other with the greatest fury, and one was 
dragged out dead from the encounter. His flesh was claimed 
for the poor of the barrio, and according to usage he was 
surrendered to them. This kind of amusement I found was 
a fisivorite one throughout the State. 

I subsequently witnessed an exhibition of a different kind, 
in the same place. It was announced as " Una Sagrada Fun* 
cion,^^ sometimes called " >SiiVi€fe," a solemnity or mystery. 
It fell on a clear moonlight night, and was one of the most 
singular spectacles which can be imagined. A kind of stage 
was erected upon one side of the plaza, raised some six feet 
from the groimd, with a place behind, concealed by vari- 
ously colored cloths, for the participants. In front was 
a framework of wood, supporting a great number of flaring 
tallow candles. When we reached the plaza it was crowded 



884 NIOABAGUA— KABRATIVS. 

with spectators. Many had brought their chairs with them, 
and were seated in a semjfcircle, in &ont of the stage, bvl 
most were standing in groups and engaged in earnest con- 
yersation« All the gallants were out, and nearly all carried 
long naked Toledos under their arms, — ^a conmion practice on 
the occasion of night gatherings. The law, however, forbidn 
pistols, as well as swords or knives under a certain length. 
It was a famous opportunity for all kinds of intrigue, and I 
soon began to suspect that there would be more love-making 
than anything else during the '^ funcion." But what I saw 
and heard bearing upon this point, is neither here nor there. 
Enough for me to say, I got a comfortable seat in the midst 
of a bevy of the fairest sefioritas, and enjoyed the " funcion" 
as much as the best of them. 

In front of the stage was a kind of orchestra, made up of 
an infinitude of fiddly and cracked clarionets, which dis- 
coursed most melancholy music, for half an hour after we 
came upon the ground. At the end of that time, it was 
announced that Sefior Z., a young man who wrote poetiy 
and wore his hair long, after the manner of bardlings the 
world over, would recitxj an appropriate poem. The Sefior 
came forward, bowed low, and after telling us what he pro- 
posed to say in plain prose, commenced his poem. It related 
to Christ, dealt largely in superlatives, and complimented 
our Saviour much after the manner a love-sick youth might 
be supposed to address his mistress. The only redeeming 
point was the manner, and the clear, distinct enunciation 
with which it was given. It was listened to with attention, 
and vehemently applauded at its close. While the speaker 
was in the midst of his heroics, and the entire assemblage 
silent, I heard a heavy regular tramp, and turning, saw a de- 
tachment of troops, marching slowly through the crowd, 
their arms glancing in the moonlight. They defiled into the 
shade, close to the wall of the church, and at the word of 
command, their muskets came down with a startling clang 



UKA SAGRADA FUNCION. 886 

upon the pavement There they stood, like bronze statues 
during the whole evening. Thi^ incident will illustrate the 
condition of the country better than an essay. 

After the poem, the music struck up again, and we were 
treated to a lugubrious song by two men and three women, 
but I could not make out what it was about. Vocal music is 
certainly at a low ebb in Nicaragua ; nasal music, however, 
is flourishing. Fortunately the people make no pretensions 
to musical accomplishments, and thus criticism is disarmed. 
A kind of drama, in two acts, borrowed from the Bible, 
followed the vocal entertainments, in which a shallow, rat- 
tling character or clown was introduced, with other comic 
accessories. This was by £ir the best part ; the clown was a 
rare fellow, and acquitted himself well ; but the serious part 
was very serious. The characters talked in a kind of mo- 
notonous recitative, like automatons, and without a particle of 
action. An hour's endurance of this was enough for a 
Christian, and throwing some silver in the box of a man who 
went round for the purpose of making a collection for the 
benefit of the church, I left, in company with the sefLoritas, 
who inquired if similar "funcions" were common in the 
United States ? I told them yes, but that our padres con- 
signed all those who frequented them to the demonic , where- 
upon the sefLoritas opened their big, black eyes, and ejaculated 
"Miral" doteUI 

But all these ^^ftmcions" paled before an exhibition by 
" Una Gompafiia Espafiola de Funambulos," under the direo* 
tion of Sr. D. Pedro Serrate, which came to Leon shortly 
after our arrival. It made a great sensation amongst the 
people, whose cxuiosity was raised to the highest degree by 
flaming handbills, reciting the wonderftil feats to be per- 
formed by "la hermosissima Jovena Catalina," "by the 
the most beautiftd young Kitty, " and the equally astonishing 
extravagances of the " eccentric clown Simon," all of which 
"the enlightened and dignified public of Leon" (thus ran the 



886 NICARAGUA — ^NABBATIVE. 

invitation) were solicited to felicitate themselves by vritneas- 
ing, — admittance two rials, nifilos (little ones) one rial, and 
niflitas {very little ones) a medio only. The following Sun- 
day, at three o'clock, was the time fixed for the performance. 
We were all specially invited to attend by Sefior Serrate in 
person, and of course accpted the invitation. Meantime the 
excitement became universal ; it was as good as a revolution, 
and not half as dangerous. As the time approached, men 
marched through the streets, beating the rappel at the 
comers, which was the signal for gathering. The next 
thing to be seen was a swarm of 8eryan^ carrying chairs for 
their masters and mistresses ; and then came the masters and 
mistresses themselves, in gala dress. I had not yet seen such 
an exhibition of satin slippers ! We fell into the movement, 
and duly brought up at the house where the " Funambulos" 
or rope-dancers, had established themselves. It belonged to 
one of the most respectable citizens of Leon, who had patri- 
otically permitted it to be used for this interesting occasion. 
Soldiers were stationed at the door to keep out the rabble, 
which blockaded the street, and devised all sorts of ingenious 
methods to get a glimpse of the mysteries within. Here the 
wife of Sefior Serrate received the rials with a courtesy and 
"milgracias" for each. The building had a large square 
court, shaded by high trees, and surrounded by a broad cor- 
ridor, raised a foot or two above the ground. Upon one 
side of the courtyard was erected a temporary, carpeted stage, 
which extended out into the area. Behind this was a gaudily 
painted curtain, concealing the penetralia within which the 
performers were to retire after their respective efforts. Alto- 
gether it was not a bad substitute for a theatre. The corri- 
dor corresponded to the dress circle, the courtyard to the pit, 
and the roof to the gallery. But I am at a loss where to 
class the occupants of the trees ! The place was already 
crowded when we arrived ; the Chief of the State, the Gene- 
ral, in feet all the principal inhabitants, comprising the 



UNA GOMPANA DE FUNAMBULOS. 387 

" beauty and fashion of Leon, and fiill two-thirds of all the 
padres, were present. All seemed at their ease, and, includ- 
ing the the ladies, smoked cigaritos. A seat was cleared for 
me by the side of the General, and the rest of our party took 
up their positions near by. The orchestra played with terri- 
ble energy, and some hens, perched amongst a lot of boys, in 
the trees, firightened at this unusual scene, cackled with equal 
vigor. The ground within the court was covered with 
muchachos, and nurses with children, who were wrought up 
to an alarming state of impatience, and only kept within the 
bounds of propriety by the canes of the vigilant alcaldes. 

After an interval, a messenger approached the Director, 
and inquired if it was his pleasure the performance should 
begin; to which an affirmative response was given. The 
manager of the " Funambulos" then came forward and an- 
nounced the " hermosissima Jovena Catalina," who would 
exhibit her dexterity on the tight rope. The next moment 
the Jovena advanced, and was, as the newspapers say, " rap- 
turously received." She was dressed quite after the fashion 
of similar performers at home, in skirts equally brief, and 
seemed to me quite as dexterous. But she had monstrous 
ankles, and a foot none of the smallest, and was unmercifully 
criticised, particularly by the female spectators. "Mira!" 
exclaimed a belle by my side, who lifted her tiny hands in 
astonishment, " Valgame Diosl es una pateza Inglesa/" 
" See ! Good Heavens ! it is an English paw !" I glanced 
cautiously down at the little slippered feet at my side — ^they 
were really very small. My fair friend saw the movement, 
but nothing abashed, thrust them out the further, and rogue- 
ishly inquired, "How do you like them?" I professed to 
be looking for a fallen cigarito, but the dodge wouldn't 
answer. The Jovena, in a country where hardly any one 
who has his peculiarity escapes a nick-name, went afterwards 
by the unpoetical designation of " Tobillos gruesos" — " Big 



888 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

The Jovena had a sister, who was beautiful, and while she 
remained in the city, the reigning toast of the young officers 
and of the gallants generally. She however did not possess 
the skill of " Tobillos gruesos," but danced passably, and was 
very well in pantomime. The " eccentric clown, Simon," 
seemed to be the most popular feature of the exhibition ; 
and although he was not always over-delicate, seldom fBiiled 
to " bring down the house " by his hits. I was not long in 
discovering that the entire people had a keen appreciation of 
drollery, and what would perhaps be called " serious jok- 
ing ;" and have often witnessed impromptu scenes amongst 
the mozos by the roadside, or in the little villages, which were 
irresistibly comic, and saving time and place, might have 
been the originals from which Cervantes drew his immortal 
pictures. 

After the performances on the rope, we had tumbling, in 
which two smart little boys, sons of the " director" of the 
Funambules, the clown, and a woman took part But the 
Leonesas were shocked that one of the " bello sexo" should 
descend to that, and expressed their disapprobation in such a 
manner, that she never made her appearance again in the 
character of a " volteadora." Then came a pantomime, in 
which a fussy, gouty Englishman, travelling in Spain, and 
ignorant of the language, was the principal character. His 
mishaps created great merriment, and the raggedest boy in 
the patio seemed glad to have an opportunity of laughing at 
John Bull ; who, as I have before said, is nowhere in the 
world more cordially hated than in Nicaragua, 

It was quite sundown when Sefior Serrate came forward 
and thanked his auditors for the honor of their attendance ; 
and then the Jovena Catalina invited them all, in the choicest 
CastUian, to come again on the Sunday following. The 
" Funambulos," I may add, had a brilliant and profitable 
season of a month ; and when they left, received a testimonial 
from the citizens, who " thought it worthy of remark, that 



VIKW IX LEON. 



to this exhibition the public had not, as on other occasions, 
been driven to the hard necessity of listening to indecent 
dialogues, to the prejudice of morals and good taste, or of 
abstaining from visnting the exhibition." The " Corrco del 




latmo" also complimented them as having " performed with 
skill and excellence," and with these recommendations they 
departeil on a tour of the State. 

I have Baid, at the commencement of tins chapter, that 
there were no stated amusements in Leou ; perhaps, how- 
ever, the various fiestas and saints' daj-s should come under 
that denomination. At any rate they were celebrated in 
anything but a serious manner; they were general holidays, 



840 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

in which everybody dressed in his best, and the more bom- 
bas fired and bells rung, the more " alegre" the occasion, and 
the greater the honor to the saints. As a consequence, 
being situated in the vicinity of the principal churches, we 
were treated to a " Fourth of July" as often as twice a week. 
Sometimes lines of bombas were arranged, not only around 
the churches, but on their roofe, and over their towers, with 
large ones at intervals, which, when they exploded, made a 
noise like a cannon. These were set off almost invariably 
in the daytime, and produced a deafening sound, like the 
rolling discharge of musketry under a cannonade, for nearly 
half an hour, creating a dense smoke, and filling the air with 
sulphurous odors. The bells were rung the while, and every- 
body seemed delighted, and none more so than the mucbachos, 
who, like the gamins de Paris, swarmed everywhere, and 
were the foremost in all public demonstrations. 

The fiesta of St. Andrew was celebrated with some novel 
features, and particularly commended itself to the muchachos. 
It was signalized by " un baile de los demonios," a dance 
of the devils. The devils were dressed in the most fantastic 
manner, wore masks, and sported barbed tails. One shrouded 
in black displayed a grinning death's head beneath his half- 
parted veil, and kept time to the music with a pair of verit- 
able thigh bones. The dance, I should think, had been 
borrowed from the Indians; the music certainly was. 
It was almost unearthly, such as Cortez describes on the 
night of his retreat fi:om Mexico, " which carried terror to 
the very souls of the Christians." It is impossible to describe 
the strange instruments. One consisted of a large calabash, 
over which was stretched the skin of some animal ; this, 
when pressed in, recoiled with a dull, sullen noise, like the 
suppressed bellow of a wild beast, and the wail of some of the 
long reeds was like that of a man in the agonies of a violent 
death. The devils went whisking through the principal 
streets, followed by a gaping crowd, and entered all the prin- 



BAILE D£ LOS DEMONIOS. S41 

cipal houses, where, after a dance in the courtyard, they 
expected either to receive a rial or two, or to be treated to a 
dram of agua ardiente. They favored me with an extra dis- 
play of their demoniacal abilities, — ^but were high-spirited 
devils, and declined to receive money from a stranger. 

Another class of dancers, dressed in a profusion of tinsel, 
but not aspiring to the distinction of devils, parade the streets 
on certain saints' days, visiting all the houses where the 
heads of the family bear the name of the saint, where they 
expect a gratuity or a treat, in return for an exhibition of 
their skill. As I soon lost all track of the saints, I do not 
remember which were supposed to be propitious to this kind 
of diversion. 

All-Saints' day was distinguished by a grand procession of 
all the saints, not excepting the little ebony San Benito, who, 
after airing themselves through the principal streets, vis- 
ited the various churches in succession, including the Cathe- 
dral of Subtiaba, where there were some very curious and 
complicated ceremonies. The afternoon of this day was 
celebrated as a kind of carnival amongst the Indians of that 
municipality. It is their prerogative, on that occasion, to 
pelt all visitors with oranges, and to form rings of dancers 
around them, from which exit can only be procured by the 
payment of a certain sum to the church. Almost every one 
in the city went down, including the ofl&cers of State, whose 
position gave them no immunity, — on the contrary, they got 
more than their just share of the pelting. But as the visitors 
are usually mounted, a rapid retreat is always made, when 
the storm of the golden missiles grows too severe. I made 
it a point of duty to see everything, and accordingly rode to 
Subtiaba just before sunset, where the first object I saw was 
a venerable Doctor of Medicine, bareheaded, spurring at full 
speed, and dodging from side to side under a shower of 
oranges discharged upon him from an ambuscade. For it 
is considered a capital joke with the muchachos^ to lie in 



342 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

wait under a ruin, or amongst the bushes, and let oflF a volley 
upon the unsuspecting horseman. When I entered the 
plaza it was occupied by groups of people, moving from side 
to side, shouting and laughing, in a furor of excitement and 
frolic, while the air was full of missiles. A few were dis- 
charged at me, but as soon as I was recognized, I was 
exempted from the usual ordeal. Suddenly I saw a move- 
ment in the direction of the cabildo, and the next moment 
was saluted with " Vivan los Estados Unidos !" " Vivan los 
amigos de Nicaragua !" These were given with the greatest 

enthusiasm.' 

Posts were planted around the plaza, to which a double 

line of bombas was attached. These were to be let oflF (for 

a wonder) after dark, and my friend Simon Boque was 

urgent that I should stay to witness the explosion, and 

even offered to anticipate the hour fixed for lighting them ; 

but I had had enough of bombas for a lifetime, and rode 

home in the twilight. The streets were full of life, and the 

band stationed upon the steps of the grand Cathedral played 

' On the day set apart for the festival of All Saints, the shops are closed 
and business suspended. About ten o'clock the procession commences 
from the Cathedral. A troop of military, marching to a slow tune, lead 
the way, and are followed by six of the finest Indian girls that can be 
procured, bearing large wax candles, and dressed in the ancient costumes 
of their tribes, accompanied by the great drum, carried on the back of an 
Indian, and beaten by two others. These are succeeded by men bearing 
on their shoulders wooden platforms, on which are placed images of saints. 
Other representations of beatified cardinals and bishops follow, escorted 
by angels with spreading wings. Then succeeds an immense statue of St. 
Peter, bearing the keys, and supported by angels on each side. Other 
images pass forward in succession, and immediately precede the Host, 
which is carried under a splendid canopy, and accompanied by the arch- 
bishop and the dignified clergy. The various orders of friars, the priests, 
and the collegiate students, in their robes, follow ; and fresh images of 
saints and angels, with a new troop of military, bring up the rear. . . 
The setting out and return to the Cathedral are notifiinl by frequent dis- 
charges of sky-rockets." — Dunn's Guatemala, p. 114. 



EVBXING SPECULATIONS. 



848 



the natdonal anthem, while the soldiers grouped around the 
various " cuartels" joined in the chorus. For once, thanks 
to the darkness, I escaped the eternal presentation of arms 
and beat of drum, with which I was always received in the 
plaza, and which induced me to avoid entering it, except in 
cases of necessity. I sat on my horse for a quarter of an 
hour, listening to the music and the merriment, and specu- 
lated whether, after all, spite of unstable governments, and 
destitute of all those accessories which, according to our utili- 
tarian ideas, are necessary to the popular welfare, — whether 
the people of Leon were not on the whole happier and more 
contented than those of any city of equal size in our own 
country ? Here were no crowded workshops, where youth 
and age toil on, on, during the long day and by the pale gas 
light, amidst foul vapors, or in a corrupted atmosphere, that 
trade may thrive, and arrogant commerce strut in the Ex- 
change ! No thundering machines to disturb the calm of 
evening, to drown the murmurs of the night winds and the 
gentle melody of the falling dews, with their hoarse, un- 
earthly clangor ! 




N I C A R A O U A N P L O U G U . 






CHAPTER XIII. 



A SORTIE FROM LEON — QUESALOUAQUE — EL ESTERO DB DONA PAULA — THE 
" MOXTE DE SAN JUAN " — SUMMARY WAY OF DISPOSING OF " LADRONSS " — 

" EL TIORE," JAGUAR, OR OUNCE ; ITS HABITS ) HOW HUNTED THE " LEON," 

OR PUMA — THE " COYOTE " — POSULTEGA — A SPECIMEN PADRE — SOBRINAS — 
CHICUIGALPA — POISED THUNDER-STORM — THE ORACION — HACIENDA OF SAN 

ANTONIO CIUNANDEGA — A CHALLENGE — EL VIEJO FAMILIAR FIXTURES — 

AN ENTERPRISING CITIZEN AND HIS TRAGIC FATE — A DECAYING TOWN — MULES 
V8. HORSES — VISIT TO THE HACIENDAS — AN INDIGO ESTATE, AND A MAYOR- 
DOMO — FINE VIEW — THE SUGAR ESTATE OF SAN GERONIMO ^BACHELOR QUAR- 
TERS AND HACIENDA LIFE — ^A FRUIT GARDEN — THE BREAD FRUIT — SUGAR- 
MILLS, AND THE MANUFACTURE OF AGUARDIENTE — A SINFUL SIESTA — VISIT 

FROM THE MUNICIPALITY — " UNA CANCION" CHINANDEGA BY DAYLIGHT — 

REALEJO— PORT AND HARBOR — ^THE PROGRESS OF ENTERPRISE — THE PROJECTED 
NEW TOWN OF CORINTH — RETURN TO LEON. 



Early after our arrival in Leon, amongst many others 
of like character, we had received an invitation from the 
wealthy and influential family of Venerio, to spend a week 
at their establishment inViejo Chinandega; which, as it was 
coupled with a promise to give us an initiation into the 
mysteries of hacienda life, we had at once accepted. Up to 
this time, however (Sept. 3, 1849), I had been unable to 
leave the capital. But now my official negotiations were 
liappily terminated, and pending the action of the Legislative 
Chambers, which were called to meet on the 22d of the same 
:iionth, I had an opportunity of seeing something more of 
:he magnificent plain, in the centre of which we were re- 
siding. 

I have already said that, for obvious reasons, most of the 
bravelling in Central America is done in the morning or 

44 



846 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

evening. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, therefore, 
when we started for El Viejo, twelve leagues, or thirty -six 
miles distant. This, with us, would be considered quite a 
day's journey in itself, but here it is what is called an evening 
**paseo," or ride. Our course led through Subtiaba, crossing 
the stream which flows past that pueblo at a place where art 
had cut down the steep banks, and nature woven an ever- 
green roof above — one of those dark, cool nooks in which 
the water birds love to gather, and where the Indian girls 
come to bathe — beyond which spread out the luxuriant 
maize fields, traversed by hedge rows like the lines on a 
chess board. The road, bordered with trees, to protect the 
traveller from the sun, wound amongst these fields for five 
or six miles, when it entered the forest again, and soon 
came to a deep ravine, with abrupt banks, seventy or eighty 
feet high, at the bottom of which flows a large clear stream, 
called, at this point, Quesalguaque. It rises near the volcano 
of Telica, and for some distance from its source it bears the 
name of Rio Telica. It flows into the harbor of Realejo, 
and for a number of leagues from its mouth, is a tide-water 
stream, and called " El Estero de Doiia Paula" 

This is the largest stream on the plain of Leon, and is pro- 
bably that to which some map-makers have given the name 
of Rio Tosta. The cart-road descends the ravine circuitously, 
and ascends in like manner ; traversing nearly a mile in 
passing from one bank to the other. The mule-road, how- 
ever, is direct, but the descent and ascent are both abrupt 
and difficult. I hardly thought either possible, and was 
really amazed to find my horse attempt them without so 
much as the touch of the spur, and quite as a matter of 
course. Emerging from the ravine, we came to some cleared 
fields, (one of which was planted with pine-apples, now 
nearly ripe, and looking wonderfully tempting in the sun), 
in the midst of which was a small collection of huts, called 
the Pueblecita de Quesalguaque. We stopped for a moment 



AN EPISODE ON WILD BEASTS. 847 

to fill our pockets with delicious nisperos from a tree over- 
hanging the road, its treasures free to all who chose " to 
come and eat," and then diverging from the camino real, 
struck into the narrow mule-path which leads through the 
Mont« de San Juan. This portion of the road has a bad 
reputation throughout the whole country ; and during the 
late troubles had been the scene of several tragic occur- 
rences. The robbers or ladrones who infested it, however, 
had been hunted by volunteers from Leon and Chinendaga, 
and shot down like wild beasts; a summary, but most eflfectual 
way of preventing further depredations. At one point we 
passed a number of newly-erected crosses, marking the place 
where murder had been done. But all was still and peace- 
ful now, and we saw nothing to startle us except a Tigre^ 
which leaped across the path a few paces in advance, disap- 
pe^ug instantaneously in the forest. 

What is here called the Tigre or Tiger, is the true Jaguar^ or 
Ounce ; and the animal which is called the Lion is the mane- 
less Mexican Lion, or Puma. Ounces are abundant through- 
out the entire country, and often commit serious depreda- 
tions upon the cattle of the haciendas. They are of a tawny 
color, the body beautifully variegated with irregular oblong 
black spots, breast and belly whitish. They grow to the 
length of four or five feet, are powerfully built, with massive 
jaws, and possess a strength and activity superior to any of 
the feline race of equal size. They unhesitatingly attack all 
animals, of whatever proportions, which are not fully capable 
of defending themselves; and in riding through the woods I 
have several times seen full grown heifers, which they had 
not only killed, but dragged to considerable distances, — in 
one instance not less than a hundred yards. 

The Tigre, however, sometimes meets his match in a 
sturdy bull or spirited cow, and is compelled to retreat. The 
vaqueros of the haciendas, who are fluent on the subject of 
tigers, and often able to show ghastly scars in confirmation 



848 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

of their stories of adventures, relate instances in which the 
tiger has been killed outright in his encounters with the 
toros, A bull of venerable aspect, but exceedingly mild 
demeanor, was pointed out to me in Honduras, which was 
the hero of many battles, successful in all, and in three in- 
stances killing his adversary. I quite respected this pro- 
tector of his herd, and thought he should at least receive the 
title of the " Great Defender." The herdsmen concur in say- 
ing that the tiger is generally too cunning to attack the cat- 
tle, except singly, when separated from each other, as they 
all make cpmmon cause against him when he ventures 
amongst the herd. The ounce seldom attacks man, unless 
pressed by hunger, or by the hunters. This is a fortunate 
circumstance ; for otherwise travelling in Central America, 
where, in the secluded parts of the country, hardly a day 
passes without seeing one or two of them, would be attended 
with the greatest danger. In some localities, however, the 
ounce is represented to be more ferocious than in others, and 
so bold as to slip into the villages in broad daylight, in search 
of his prey. There are many men distinguished for success 
in hunting this animal, who arrogate to themselves the title 
of tigreros. They use no arms, except a long and stout 
spear or lance, and their machetes. Their first object, with 
the aid of dogs, is to drive the tiger into a tree, or bring him 
to bay. When this is done, the tigrero wraps his poncho 
around his left arm, and a])i)roaches the fierce and excited 
animal, with his lance so fixed as to be able to receive him 
on its point when he shall make his spring. This requires 
great coolness and firmness, for everything depends upon the 
hunter planting his spear full in the animal's breast. If this 
be not done, a terrible fight ensues, from which the strongest 
and bravest man is fortunate if he escapes with life. The 
genuine tigrero scorns to use firearms, — " no tiene valor, 
nada,'' they are of no use, none ! Some of these men num- 
ber their victories by scores, and are considered invincible. 



THE PUMA AND COYOTE. 849 

The tigre negro, or black ounce, is erroneously regarded 
by the natives as a distinct species ; and, perhaps from his 
more forbidding appearance, is supposed to be stronger and 
fiercer. They are undoubtedly a little larger in size than 
the other variety. In Nicaragua they are rarely seen, but 
are quite abundant, it is said, in the mountainous districts 
of Honduras. 

The Lion, or Puma, notwithstanding his name, has fewer 
of the traditional magnanimous traits of the lion proper 
than the tigre. He is altogether a sneaking fellow, and at- 
tacks cattle only when he finds them wounded, entangled in 
thickets, or embarrassed in swamps, where he has everything 
to his own advantage. He flies from man, but will prowl 
stealthily after him in the evening, like the wolf He is 
consequently approached with difficulty, and rarely killed. 
His color is a pale, brownish red, inclining to black on the 
back, but light under the belly. In shape he is slenderer 
than the ounce, his legs and tail longer, and his claws and 
head slighter. " A full grown tiger," said an old hunter to 
me, " is a match for half a dozen of the cowards." The 
weary traveller, sleeping in the forest, has more to dread 
from the puma than any other wild animal. Besides the 
ounce. and the puma, there arc several varieties of tiger, or 
mountain cats, which commit depredations on the fowls and 
smaller domestic animals of the ranches, but from whom 
man has nothing to fear. 

The " coyote," wild dog, or as he is sometimes called, 
wolf, is common in some parts of Central America. I never 
saw any of them, but they are said to diiFer as widely from 
the true wolf as from the common dog. Some have conjee 
tured that they are descended from the bloodhounds which 
were used by the early Spaniards in hunting down the na- 
tives. But all attempts to reclaim them, although carried on 
during two or three generations, have failed. Like wolves, 
they generally hunt in packs, making no noise beyond a low 



S60 



NIC AHA a I'A 



Lowl, and follow their jircy with u, jwrsevcmiicc wliioli h 
alnutfit fllwuys Biiw««ful in llie cod. It is wud tUat, al* 
thoiigji iii<lividually arrant cowards, tbt-y will coUcclivdjr 
attack the tiger liim^lf, drive him into a tree, and liediege 
liini for inftnjf days, until i^xhaustdl, in nltcmjiting lo (.-.Hcape, 
hff fulls a victim to tlip uumbcr of tU assailtml^. Tbo nattvus 
havn a aingiiliir notion, liowevcr, tliat ibci coyotes noror 
beleaguer the tigro unleea lie has committed aomo outrage on 
the fruternity, robbed llieni of tlieir prey, or made a meal of 
some 3trag!^ler. 

To return from tliits iligivsaiou. Two leagues beyond 
QucsafguactUG, the intervening country level and magnifi- 
cently wooded, and the road broad and emooth, is tbe 
Pueblo of I'nsultega, ao unpretending town of some five or 
six hundred inliabitante, and distingnishiid for nothing ex- 
cept an aacicnt church, more remarkable for ita dilajjidalion 
than itA architecture. The cura, who had called on mc in 
Leon a few days before, was swinging in his hammock, be- 
tween a couple of orange trees in front of his house ; lie 
leaped up as we appiv>acliod, stopped me in the open street, 
and gave me an embrace " as was an embraiw," and from 
my elevatcii [wsition on my horse, quite tow nuar the bell to 
be eomfortable. He insisUjd on our stopping for the r«st of 
the afternoon anil fur the night at his poor honse, (every 
house in Central America is called "mi' pobre easa" by its 
owner), which I dL-elincd doing with a prodigious aScctation 
of regret, that became real a moment after, when I discov- 
ered the padre's sdiriita or niece, a fi»ir, I'ull-lireaslvti girl, 
peeping slyly out between the bars of the window. Of 
course it is not reputable for padres to have females in their 
establishments, except near rclalives, — nuula fur hotisekwp- 

era, and nieces for compunious! Tlic aunts, I observed, 

wwre always old, but the nieces almost invariably young sad 
pretty, ns nieces are bound to be. 

The country, from Posyllega to Chir'higalpa, a consider- 



CmcHIGALPA. 



S51 



nble tnwn, two leagues further on, preserves its flat BUrface, 
the mouotoujr but sHglitly relieved hy the otwasioiial iinrrow 
and shaUow uhauucls vhicti carry oS ihe siiperubuuLlaDt 
water o]' the rainy season. Chichij,'alpa, formerly a, wry 
large Iiuliaa lowu, etill aumbcrs Ei-oai three to fi\fO thousand 
intiubitaLiti) ; it ts regulurly laid out, and has a neat and 
altnwtive appearance. It was just sunset wlieu wo entered 
its streets. A heavy thunder-storm was piling iip its bliick 
volumes behind the volcanoes in the cast, and the cidm and 
silence whiah precede the tempest rested upon the plain ; 
the winds were still, and the leaves hung motionless on the 
trees. The adult iuhsbitaal^ &cemed tonynipiUliizc with the 
Bceac, and sat silently in the open doorways; but the chil- 
dren were as playful and noisy as ever, their voiees reuJurcd 
doubly distioct, and almost umi^ituTal in the pervading c^uict. 
Suddenly the Ircll of the nracioD ntmck; the careless voioes 
of the cliildren were inslaiitaueously hushed, ajid we mechan- 
ically slopped our horses, and aneovered our heads. A low 
murmur of prayer fioated forth on the undulating waves of 
Bound wLioh si-'inied lo subsido iu cii'cles arannil us ; — ngain 
the bell struck, again, and then, when the pulses had almost 
ceastsd to boat, that the atraiiiiugeariulghtcatehtho expiring 
vibrations, rolled in the muffled sound of tlio Jistiiut thunder. 
It aune down fruiiL the mountains with the majesty of an 
ocvan pimred silon^ their tremhliug sides ! 

Tlw oracion, which never fails to impress the most carele^ 
traveller with & feeling of reverential awo, was but one ele- 
nipul iu this grand eombinaUou of the solemn and the sub- 
lime. 

Wo rode through Chichigidpa without stopping, and 
pressed rapidly ilirward, with the dejsign of reaching the es- 
tate of San Antouio, belonfring to tlio family of my com- 
panion, before the storm should overtake us. Darkness, 
however, cloaed speedily ai^ound our path, and in ten min- 
uting we were unable to discover our position, except as it 




852 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

was revealed to us by the lightning, which occasionallj 
poured in lurid, blinding sheets, from the summits of the vol- 
canoes, where the storm seemed to pause as if to concentrate 
its gloomy squadrons, before moving down upon the silent 
plain, and forth upon the dark Pacific. Fortunately the 
road was wide, and permitted us to ride rapidly, without any 
great danger from the projecting branches. We reached San 
Antonio, eight miles from Chichigalpa, in an hour. 

The resident on the estate was an uncle of my companion, 
an amiable and gentlemanly person, who apologized for not 
coming to the door to receive us. His apology was a valid 
one. He had led the hunt after the ladrones who had in- 
fested the road to Leon, and had received a ball in his hip, 
in the final encounter with them. We were at once oflfered a 
cup of chocolate, which we accepted, in deference not less to 
our own tastes than to a sensible practice of the country, 
which is always to take whatever is tendered to you. Thus 
a caballero is offered a cigar ; he at once accepts it with a 
bow, or ** mil gracias," a thousand thanks, and if he does not 
care to smoke, puts it in his pocket. This will occur during 
the same sitting as often as the cigars are passed. With 
chocolate the case is a little different ; it is not easily put in 
one's pocket, and is therefore otherwise disposed of The 
house at San Antonio, I observed as soon as I entered it, 
was superior to any of the hacienda residences which had 
yet fallen under my notice. It was not only well construct- 
ed, but conveniently aiTanged, and painted in the interior. 
It had been built by a Mr. Bridge, an Englishman, who had 
established here one of the finest sugar plantations in the 
country. In common with most of the English residents, he 
had married a woman of the country, and what with trade, 
his hacienda, and an English vessel-of-war, always conve- 
niently at hand to enforce any claim which he and his Eng- 
lish brethren might find it profitable to set up against the 
government, had contrived to amass a considerable fortune. 



CHINAin)EGA. 858 

Upon his death, however, the estate had been sold to its 
present proprietors, and although it had fallen somewhat out 
of repair, it still showed what might be accomplished in this 
fiaivored land, with a very moderate share of enterprise and 
industry. 

The wind had sprung up, and carried the impending storm 
off to the southward ; so, after waiting half an hour at San 
Antonio, we again mounted and pursued our course. By 
the dim, reviving light, I could make out that we were now 
in an open and highly cultivated country, sprinkled over 
with houses. Half an hour more "brought us to the suburbs 
of Chinandega, probably the most flourishing town in the 
State, and the only one, I believe, which has increased in 
population since the independence. The commerce of Real- 
ejo is conducted through it ; here nearly all the merchants 
reside ; and the inhabitants, some fifteen or sixteen thousand 
in number, are conceded to be the most industrious and 
thriving of any in the Republic. 

It was too dark to distinguish anything beyond long, 
broad avenues, bordered with gardens, each one having a 
hut in the centre. The streets really seemed endless, and we 
passed square on square, for full a mile and a half, before we 
reached the paved streets surrounding the plazas, where the 
adobe and tile-roofed houses are built, and where the 
wealth and trade is concentrated. The people were still sit- 
ting at their doors and windows, in luxurious enjoyment of 
the cool breeze which the passing storm had evoked some- 
where beyond the mountains. We would have ridden di- 
rectly through the plaza, but were stopped by the sudden 
ring of a musket on the pavement, and a fierce order to halt 
and give the countersign. We did so, and then supposed we 
might go on. But the sentinel demanded that we should 
advance singly, and called to the officer of the guard. Find- 
ing that we should probably be detained for an indefinite 
period, I whispered to my companion to fall back, and avoid 

45 



864 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

the plaza by making a circuit around it. He did so, mutter- 
ing something about the stupid military, which might have 
cost him dear had it been overheard. A long detour brought 
us to the other side of the town, which is bounded by a con- 
siderable stream, flowing through a deep hollow. The path 
to the water was broad, and artificially graded, so, notwith- 
standing the darkness, we passed without difficulty. We 
were now in the plain road to El Viejo, and a brisk ride 
through the intermediate fields and the silent suburbs, 
brought us to a large house, fronting on the plaza. We 
stopped before a high anJ imposing portal, the massive gates 
of which parted in answer to the well known voice of my 
companion. In another instant we were beneath the trees 
in the courtyard, in the full blaze of hospitable lights, stream- 
ing through the open doors of the grand sala, where our 
friends were awaiting our arrival. 

Upon entering the house, I was surprised to find myself 
surrounded by nearly all the well-known furniture of a parlor 
in New York. Here were sofas and rocking-chairs, and 
mirrors and clocks, of familiar fashion, holding something 
more than their own against hammocks and hide-bottomed 
silliis, A portrait of Washington and a fac-similc of the De- 
claration of Independence were suspended against the walls, 
and a bust of Shakspeare filled a vacant place on a little shelf 
in a distant corner. A clear blue eye, a rosy cheek, and the 
pleasant sound of our native tongue were alone needed to 
complete an illusion, in which the full form, the classic pro- 
file, pale complexion, large and licjuid eyes, the stately grace, 
and low but cordial welcome of the mistress of the mansion, 
did not permit me to indulge. 

I have said that the family whose hospitable courtesies I 
was now enjoying, was one of the wealthiest, and socially 
one of the most influential in the country. Yet its histor}^ 
for the past fifteen or twenty years is unfortunately too 
truthful an illustration of what the condition of the country 



A TRAGIC STORY. 866 

has been during that disastrous period. Don Gregorio Ve- 
nerioj the late head of the family, was one of the few men 
which Central America has aflForded, possessing enterprise, 
a liberal and enlightened spirit, and that sound philosophy 
which consists in a practical disposition to make the best of 
existing circumstances. Overcoming most of the narrow 
prejudices which had grown up under the rigorous colonial 
system of Spain, and which fettered the mass of the people 
for a long time after the independence, he introduced im- 
provements in agriculture, new machinery in the manufac- 
ture of sugar, and the preparation of cotton and indigo for 
foreign markets, and with a true patriotism and public spirit 
sought to direct the general attention to useful occupations 
and the development of the natural resources of the country, 
as the best means of insuring civil order and stability in 
government. His labors were, for a time, eminently success- 
fill, and he gave an impulse to industry and trade in the 
section of the state in which he resided, which has since 
doubled its wealth and inBuence. But envious and evil dis- 
posed persons were not wanting to misrepresent his motives, 
and to awaken distrust of the objects which he aimed to 
accomplish. The hostility of the ignorant masses was ex- 
cited against him and his family ; his machinery, it was said, 
would depreciate wages, and his products destroy the market 
for the productions of smaller proprietors. The ultimate 
result may be anticipated. The robber chieftain, Somoza, 
whose violent end I have already recounted, at the head of 
a band of assassins and robbers, entered his house at night, 
dragged him from his bed, and butchered him in cold blood, 
in the presence of his entire family, in the very room where 
I was now seated. Yet, up to the time of my arrival, the 
murderer had escaped apprehension and defied justice. 

El Viejo Chinandega, Old Chinandega, or as it is briefly 
called El Viejo, is one of the most ancient towns in Nicara- 
gua. It is beautifully situated upon a stream which flows 



856 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVE, 

tlnough its centre, and contains between five and six thousand 
inhabitants. Formerly it was the principal town, next to 
Leon, in this department, and was the seat of the trade carried 
on through the port of Eealejo. But the new town is located 
more favorably for commerce, and as that has increased in 
importance, El Viejo has declined. During the supremacy of 
the bucaneers in the South Sea, El Viejo was several times 
attacked, and once or twice burned. It has a large church, 
of high antiquity, situated upon an artificial terrace in the 
midst of a plaza, A fantastic wall runs along the edge of 
the terrace, and above each flight of steps, by which it is 
ascended, are lofty arches of fine proportions, which lend a 
very singular eflfect to the whole sthicture. Architecturally, 
El Viejo affords no other object of interest. 

After breakfast, on the morning following our arrival, we 
started on a visit to the haciendas, or plantations, belonging 
to the family. I had a strong prejudice against mules, but 
my host quietly insisted that I should ride his macho^ a sleek- 
looking, clean-limbed animal, upon which my saddle had 
already been placed. I complied without, at the moment, 
fully comprehending the reason of the request. But no 
sooner had we struck into the main road, than I found that, 
in respect of speed and of ease to the rider, no horse was 
comparable to the splendid animal upon which I was mount- 
ed. Without an apparent eifort, and quite as a matter of 
course, he distanced all the horses of the party, and at what 
appeared to be his ordinary pace, kept them at a sharp gal- 
lop. "That macho," said my host, "cost me three hundred 
dollars ; and I have ridden him sixty miles in six consecutive 
hours !'^ When I add that ordinary mules here cost only 
about twenty dollars, and that this one was valued at three 
hundred and fifty, the difference between them is brought to 
some standard of calculation. The pace is artificial ; and 
when what is called " a good education" is joined to good 
proportions, soundness of limb, and high spirit, (for they 



ABANDONED ESTATES. 867 

diflfer widely in this respect,) mules are esteemed infinitely 
higher than horses. Their endurance is incredible, and they 
have the ability to take care of themselves where a horse 
would starve. 

At the distance of a league from the town, we turned into 
a beautiful shaded lane, or avenue, running through the 
broad estates which we had come to visit. The fields, with 
the exception of one or two which were planted with maize, 
were overgrown with weeds. I inquired the cause, and was 
told that these were indigo grounds, the cultivation of which 
had been suspended from the impossibility of securing per- 
manent laborers ; for the processes in manufacturing the 
indigo are so delicate, that any deficiency in attention ruins 
the entire crop. When affairs became fully settled, it was 
intended to resume the cultivation of this valuable product ; 
but until then, the ground, dams, vats, and machinery were 
valueless property. In the centre of this portion of the es- 
tate, on an eminence near an artificial pond covered with 
water plants, and constructed for supplying the indigo works, 
was the house of the superintendent, — a large two-story edi- 
fice, with a double corridor on every side, and surrounded 
by a little forest of magnificent trees, relieved by towering 
palms and the green columns of the cactus. The mayor- 
domo, a venerable old man with his head bound in a varie- 
gated handkerchief, white shirt and breeches, and red shoes, 
himself one of the fixtures of the estate, received each of us 
with a hearty embrace, and then led us up a flight of broad 
stone steps, to the upper corridor. Here were the old man's 
daughters, three pretty, blushing girls, who were introduced 
individually as Paula, Manuelita, and Concepcion. " Their 
mother is a saint," said he, as he gazed on them with an ex- 
pression of pride; "but happier times are coming for our 
poor country, and they will live to see them, I am sure 1" 
and he tottered ofi^, to procure " alguna fresca." 

From the corridor we enjoyed a magnificent view of field 



858 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIYE. 

and forest, stretching away in billows of verdure to the base 
of the volcano of El Viejo, lifting its purple summit to mid- 
heaven, beyond and over all. I ventured to imagine the 
intervening plain in the hands of an enterprising and vigor- 
ous people, dotted over with villages, and loaded down with 
the richest products of all-bountiful Nature, and queried if 
this generation might not witness the change. Let the bab- 
bler about impossibilities, in this first decade of the last half 
of the nineteenth century, turn his eyes to the shores of the 
Bay of San Francisco, be silent, and mark the reality ! 

From the indigo estate, bearing the name of some favorite 
saint, which I have forgotten, we rode a mile or two further, 
to the sugar plantation of San Greronimo. The ground 
which it occupies is perfectly level, and by means of ditches, 
designed particularly for purposes of irrigation, is laid out 
in squares, or manzanas. The cane on some of these squares 
had been newly planted, and on others lately cut, while 
upon others it was now in perfection, and ready for use. 
The mills are here kept running steadily the year round, and 
by the time the cutters have gone through all the fields, those 
which were first cleared arc ready for the knife a second 
time. Under favorable circumstances, three crops can be 
taken yearly ; and the ground does not require to be re- 
planted oftener than once in ten or fourteen years. 

A two -story house, newer and better built than that which 
I have already described, stood upon one side of the cane- 
fields, on the banks of a stream, and in the vicinity of the 
mills. It was approached by a broad avenue, kept scrupu- 
lously clean, and its white walls and red roof stood out 
against a dense background of trees, now in the perfection 
of their foliage, and loaded with fruit. The lower story was 
occupied by the mayor-domo and his family, and the ui)})er 
by a bachelor brother of our host, whom we found in his 
shirt sleeves, swinging in a hammock suspended in the cor- 
ridor on the shaded side of the building, and engaged in 



HACIENDA LIFE. 859 

reading a translatioii of Sue's Mysteries of Paris ! He rose 
hastily, uttered some indistinct apologies, and led us into the 
body of the building, where in an instant we were surrounded 
by a playful troop of blooded dogs, which our friend, who 
was a good deal of a Nimrod, had expressly imported from 
England and the United States. In one corner of the room 
stood an elegant rifle, with a brace of pistols, a sword, and a 
variety of bits and spurs grouped around it. In another 
corner was a guitar and a saddle, and on the table, in that 
delightful confusion seen only in bachelor establishments, a 
flute, some music, and books, and an infinity of cigars. An 
engraved portrait of Lola Montez was the only decoration 
on the walls, unless the skin of a monstrous tigre, stretched 
at one end of the apartment, might be called a decoration. 

From the corridor, the eye traversed broad fields of cane, 
&amed in by a dense forest, the view opening only to- 
wards the east, where the perspective of fields terminated, in 
"the distance, with the tiled roof of the house belonging to 
the indigo estate, but half seen amidst the surrounding trees. 
Ji, creaking cart came up the broad avenue towards us, 
loaded with stalks of the cana, which were piled in heaps in 
front of the mills situated in the valley of the stream, and 
partially concealed by the vapors rising lazily from the boil- 
ing kettles in which the juice was evaporated. The mozos 
engaged in the various processes moved about with a slow 
and careless air, in perfect harmony with the general quiet 
of the scenery, and in unison with the monotonous clatter of 
the mill, which seemed to be half asleep, and just about to 
stop altogether. I sat down in a vacant hammock, and for 
the first time fully comprehended the charms of hacienda 
life, — that aimless, dreamy existence, undisturbed by ambi- 
tion or envy, and separated from the struggle of conflicting 
interests. Our bachelor finend vegetated here month after 
month, without a wish ungratified, making the most of the 
present, and careless of the future. Occasionally, he said, 



860 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

his slumbering energies would be roused for a moment, but 
lacking legitimate objects to occupy them, soon subsided 
again, and the stream of life flowed on as before. A turn 
with his dogs in the morning, a stroll of supervision through 
the mills, chocolate, a book, the hammock, and the siesta, — 
these, with now and then a ride to the village, or on extra- 
ordinary occasions a rapid descent of a single day on Leon, 
made up the sum of life. 

Connected with this estate was a " huerta de las fruitas," 
a fruit garden, upon which the late Don Gregorio had ex- 
pended a great deal of money and care. It covered several 
acres of ground, — a wilderness of oranges and lemons, white 
and yellow pine apples, melons, mamays, maraELons, jocotes, 
limes, citrons, guavas, tamarinds, — ^in short all .the innume- 
rable varieties of tropical fruits and flowers, traversed by 
broad walks, here a vista terminating in a bower, and there 
ending with a glimpse of the deep pools of the neighboring 
stream; the whole surrounded by an evergreen hedge of 
cactuses, in full bloom, and loading the air with fragrance. 
Here was the odorous sweet lemon, and in the centre of the 
garden a group of bread-fruit trees, remarkable for their 
broad, deep green leaves, amongst which might be discerned 
the nuts, looking for all the world like the heads of young 
darkies. These trees had been introduced by Don Gregorio 
from the Sandwich Islands, and flourished quite as luxuri- 
antly as in their native soil. But the fruit did not "take" 
with the Nicaraguenses, who preferred the tortilla and the 
plantain ; the tree is therefore propagated solely from mo- 
tives of curiosity. 

From the garden we went to the mills. The machinery in 
use bad all been imported from England and the United 
States, via Cape Horn. There was first the crushing or 
grinding mill, from which a copper conductor carried the 
juice through a strainer into a vat, communicating by means 
of tubes with the coppers or cauldrons. From these, when 



MANUFACTURE OP SUGAR. 861 

the reduction and clarification were sufficiently far advanced, 
the liquid was drawn off into other coppers, whence the scum 
was constantly removed, and thrown into a large trough, to 
be TLsed in the distillation of agxmrdiente. When reduced 
to a certain strength or thickness, the sugar was transferred 
to the coolers and strainers, where the graining took place, 
and the molasses was separated. A large portion of the 
sugar is not subjected to this process, but while in its crude 
state, is laded into moulds of a certain size, forming what is 
called chancaca, sold for ordinary consumption amongst the 
poorer classes, at a quartillo (three cents) the cake, equiva- 
lent to about one cent and a half the pound. The finer 
qualities of sugar produced on this estate are nearly as white 
and hard as the refined sugars of commerce. Connected with 
these works is a complete apparatus for distilling dgxmr- 
dtente, capable of an indefinite production of that article of 
consumption. But this is a government estanco, or monopo- 
ly, and it cannot be manufactured on private account. The 
fact that the late Don Grregorio had obtained the contract for 
supplying the government, was one of the causes of hostility 
to him amongst the smaller proprietors, whose rude but 
costly modes of distillation were entirely supplanted by the 
introduction of his improved machinery. This hostility had 
not yet died out, and the family meditated throwing up the 
contract, and discontinuing the manufacture altogether, as 
the easiest mode of relieving themselves from the popular 
odium which it excited. Wc can hardly understand how 
such prejudices should exist, but it is nevertheless a fact that, 
at the first, every improvement in the useful arts, all social 
progress, and every advance in government, philosophy, and 
religion, have the world over been met and opposed in pre- 
cisely the same spirit, and from precisely the same motives. 

Upon our return to the house, we found a table spread 
with the rarest collection of tropical fruits and luxuries 
which I had yet seen, and which might have excited the 

46 



862 NIGARAQUA — ^NABRATIVE. 

envy of a king: We had "frescas" compounded firom the 
marafion, the orange, and the juice of the cocoanut, slightly 
dashed with aguardiente, the coolest and most refreshing 
imaginable ; and melons — such melons I And when we came 
to lie down in our respective hammocks, beneath the shaded 
corridor, for the afternoon siesta, it was unanimously voted 
that, with our present limited information on the subject of 
Paradise, we should be quite willing to accept perpetual 
youth and hacienda life "cfo?t?n," rather than incur the risk 
of attaining the former I " Opinions may differ about the 
propriety of confessing it," said W., " but really," and he 
took a long and lazy pull at his cigar, ** I think this is quite 
good enough for a miserable sinner like myself 1" 

The smoke wreathed slowly up from each hammock, the 
mill clattered drowsily, and we slept until the cool evening 
wind, gathering strength as the sun declined, began to 
rustle amongst the orange trees which grew beside the cor 
ridor, and the creaking carts, which had stood idle during 
the heat of the day, again began to move in the direction of 
the cane fields. A hacienda dinner, and a cheery ride 
townward, in the twilight, completed the day ; and we went 
to bed that night, with a most satisfactory conception of ha- 
cienda life. 

I had flattered myself that my visit to El Viejo was un- 
known beyond the family with which wc were stopping ; I 
had, in fact, stipulated with our host, that our incognito 
should be rigidly preserved. He was, therefore, a good deal 
embarrassed, and I was not a little annoyed, when he an- 
nounced the next morning at breakfiist, that the municipality 
of the town had been there, before I was up, to say that they 
should do themselves the honor to pay their respects to *' El 
Ministro" in form, at the early hour of ten o'clock. There 
was now no alternative but to submit to the arrangement, 
and make the best of what we would gladly have prevented 
Punctual to the moment, when the clock struck the appoint- 



ANOTHER OBSEQUIO. 863 

ed hour, a band of musicos, preceded by half a dozen fellows 
firing bombas, emerged fi-om the cabildo, on the opposite 
aide of the square, in the direction of our house. They were 
followed by the municipal and spiritual fathers of the town, 
the former with their red sashes and gold-headed canes, and 
the latter in their black robes and broad-brimmed hats, after 
whom came a mingled mass of men, women, and children. 
The musicos played with an energy befitting the occasion, 
and the men with the bombas managed to keep up an inces- 
sant discharge. The musicos, the municipality, and the 
priests, with a very select few of the prominent citizens, 
alone entered the sala. The populace had to content them- 
selves with gazing in turns through the open windows and 
doors. Amongst the ecclesiastics was the Dean Eemijo 
Salazar, one of the most imposing men in appearance, and 
most accomplished in manner and in education, of any in 
the country, and withal an orator and a philanthropist, and 
the venerable Padre Jose Maria Guerrero, distinguished 
throughout the State for his exemplary piety, and noted as a 
musician and a composer of music. I experienced a real 
satisfaction in taking these men by the hand, and my subse- 
quent acquaintance with them only served to deepen my 
respect and esteem. After the exchange of salutations, and 
a very neat welcome fi-om the first alcalde, we were told that 
the musicos were prepared with a " Cancion," composed ex- 
pressly for this occasion, which they begged permission to 
sing. The permission, accompanied with a glass of ardiente 
by way of clearing their respective whistles, was graciously 
accorded. It was but seven stanzas in length, but each 
stanza was seven times repeated, with a constantly increasing 
nasal intonation, until the sweat rolled down the faces of 
singers and players, — for each musico both sang and played. 
The infliction was severe, and would have been unendurable, 
had it not been for the amusing contortions of features, and 
strong muscular exercises of the performers, which far sur- 



864 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

passed the most extravagant pantomime ever brought on the 
stage. A copy of the "Cancion" was handed to me at the 
conclusion of the performance, of which the title and a couple 
of stanzas will suffice to satisfy any curiosity w^hich the 
reader may entertain in respect to it. I could not learn who 
was the author; for, with the modesty of true genius, he 
carefully concealed his name. 

"CANCION. 

" Con que la Munioipalidad de la Villa del Viejo, en union de los 
Senores Presbiterios Don Remijio Salazar, Dean de la Santa Yglecia. 
Cathedral, y Dr. Don Jose Maria Guerrero, t Licenciado D. Evaristo 

ROCIIA, FEUCITARON AL SeNOR MiNISTRO PlENOPOTENCARIO DE LOS ESTADOS 

Unidos del Norte, en su legada a esta Villa, el 5 a Setiembre. D£ 
1849. 

" Digno hijo de Washington, 
Seals bien venido, 
Llustrc bicn hechor 
De nuestro Istmo, 

No hay recompensa 
Que eguale al beneficio. 
Do Vuestra Emprcsa I 

"Fue la America libro, 
Hoy in su Centro, 
Con Vos. se regocije 
Hasta el estremo, 
Es un deber 

Pues que por Vos. adquiere 
Un nuevo ser. 

** Dichoso aquel momento 
Bello, y deseado, 
En que Vuestra Excelencia 
Fue proclamado, 
Para operar 

La obra grande que el mundo 
Debe admirar." 

We remained but two days at El Viejo, and on the morn- 
ing of the third st4irtcd on our return to Leon. Chinandep, 



CHINAtlDEQA AGAIN. 



S65 



hy daylif^t, more than confirmed the &Torablo opinion 
which I had formed of it from descriptions and starlight 
glimpses. It covers a very large space of ground, and is 
regularly laid out in " cuadraa " or squares, which are again 
subdivided into what can best be desoribed as gardens, each 




one embowering a dwelling of some kind, generally built of 
canes and thatched, but often of adobes and neatly roofed 
with tiles. The central, or what may be called the business 
part of the town, in the vicinity of the grand plaza, is com- 
pact, and as well built as any part of Leon or Granada. Yet 
it ia scarcely twenty years since there was but a single tile- 
roofed liouse in the town. Altogether, Chinandega has an 
air of thrift and enterprise which I have seen nowhere else 
in Central America ; and an the trade now springing up on 



866 NICARAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

the Pacific coast increases, its importance will oontiniie to 
augment The country around it is flat, yet the soil is dry, 
and although the heat during the day is consideiable, yet 
here, as in El Yiejo, the evenings and nights are cool and 
pleasant This is perhaps due to its position in respect both 
to the sea and the great volcano of El Yiejo, which stands 
guard at this extremity of the plain of Leon. 

Bealejo is about two leagues distant from Ghinandega. It 
is a small town, situated upon a tide-water stream, full five 
miles from the harbor proper, and can only be reached by 
the ordinary bongos or lighters, at high water. The position 
is low, and is reputed unhealthy. The customs' establish- 
ment is located there, but the merchants who conduct their 
trade through the port have their stores in Chinandega and 
Leon. It is said that the town was originally built nearer 
the harbor, and that the present site was afterwards adopted 
in consequence of the frequent attacks of the pirates, who, as 
I have already observed, infested this coast The popula- 
tion of Realejo is about twelve hundred, who find employ- 
ment in loading and unloading vessels, and supplying them 
with fruits and provisions. Becently the place has derived 
a great impulse from the Califomian trade ; docks and ware- 
houses have been built, depots for coal established, and seve- 
ral of the American steamers now touch there regularly for 
supplies ; the station, in this respect, being favorably situated 
intermediately between Panama and Acapulco. It seems 
likely, however, that the old town will be abandoned and a 
new one built up, immediately on the harbor, opposite the 
anchorage, where there is a fine position, adapted to all 
the wants of commerce. A road has, in fact, lately been 
opened to the mouth of the Estero Dofia Paula, by a com- 
pany of native merchants, and the site of the new town has 
already been laid out under direction of the government It 
is to bear the classical name of " Corinth," and will not be 
distant more than eighteen or twenty miles from Leon^ in 



THE PORT OF REALEJO. 867 

which place it is supposed it will sustain the same relation 
that Bealejo has hitherto done to Chinandega. The official 
paper, the " Correo del Istmo," of the 80th of January last, 
advertises four hundred and twenty of the lots in " Corinth," 
varying fix)m 1000 to 1500 square yards, and the minimum 
prices at which they are to be sold, i. e. from $25 to $87. 
There seems to be little doubt that this enterprise will prove 
successful, and that the Port of Eealejo will become second 
in importance to no other on the entire Pacific coast from 
Panama northward.^ 

' Sir Edward Belcher, R K, who surveyed this harbor in 1838, says : 
*' The island of Cardon, at the mouth of the harbor of Realejo, is situated 
in 12<> 28' K, and 87** 12' W. It has two entrances, both of which are 
safe, under proper precautions, in all weathers. Gk>od and safe anchorage 
extends for several miles. The rise and fall of the tide is eleven feet^ full 
and diange 3h. 6m. Docks or slips, therefore, may easily be constructed, 
and timber is readily to be procured of any dimensions; wood, water, 
and immediate necessaries are plentiful and cheap. — " Voyage round Hie 

World;' vol ii. p. 307. 

"I may confidently say," observes Dunlap, " that Realejo is as good a 
port as any in the known world. I have seen Portsmouth, Rio Janeiro, 
Port Jackson, Talhujano, Callao and Guayaquil, and to all of these I con- 
sider it decidedly superior. It is a salt water creek, into which several 
small streams of water empty themselves. The entrance is protected by 
an island about two miles long, which leaves at each end a channel where 
ships can enter the harbor, but extending opposite the main land, forming 
the port in such a manner as to protect it entirely from any wind that can 
possibly blow, and also breaking the swell which enters the outer bay of 
of Conchagua from the ocean. The north entrance is about a quarter of 
a mile wide, and that at the south of the island rather wider — ^both being 
^itirely free from rocks or hidden dangers, and having in no part less than 
five fathoms depth of water. At one of these openings vessels can at all 
times enter with a leading wind, from whatever quarter it may blow. 
The inside consists of a noble basin of water, nowhere less than four 
&thoms deep, with a bottom of mud, where two hundred ships of tlie 
line might lie at all times in most perfect security. Merchant vessels gen- 
erally lie about a mile from the entrance, in the branch of the creek which 

runs up to Realejo, where there are about five fathoms of water over a 



368 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

The opening of the port of San Juan del Sur, or San Juan 
de Concordia, for purposes of transit across the Continent via 
Lake Nicaragua and the Bio San Juan, it has been supposed 
will seriously affect the importance of Realejo. The port of 
San Juan del Sur, however, can never meet the requirements 
of a considerable commerce. As a point of embarkation and 
disembarkation for steamers, it is unobjectionable; but it is 
small, and it is almost impossible for sail vessels to approadi 
this part of the Nicaraguan coast. The north-east trade 
winds, which blow the entire year, here sweep across the 
whole continent, and for a considerable distance, and almost 
constantly, off the shore ; where, meeting with other currents, 
they form those peculiar, revolving, contradictory winds 
known as Papagayos, which give their name to the GuH 
within which this port is situated. Realejo, fix)m this cir- 
cumstance, and that of position in respect to the back coun- 
try, must therefore remain the chief port of Nicaragua. It 
is imdoubtedly the best for harbor purposes. 

mud bottom. Opposite this port there is a fine level beach, possessing 
deep water close to the edge, which would form an admirable site for a 
town, and where, at very little expense, a wharf might be constructed, 
capable of accommodating almost any number of vessels.'* — Central 
America^ p. 26. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

mB PRIESTHOOD IN NICARAGUA — DECLINE IN THE INFLUENCE OP THE CHURCH- 
BANISHMENT OF THE ARCHBISHOP — SUPPRESSION OF THE CONVENTS — PROHIBI- 
TION OF PAPAL BULLS — LEGITIMIZATION OF THE CHILDREN OP PRIESTS — THE 
THREE ABANDONED CONVENTS OF LEON — PADRE CARTINE, THE LAST OF THE 
FRANCISCANS — RECEPTION, OR CLOCK ROOM — THE PADRE*S PETS ; HIS ORATO- 
RY; PRIVATE apartments; workshop — A SKULL AND ITS HISTORY — THE 
EGLESIA DEL RECOLECCION — THE PADRE AS A LANDLORD ; AS A PAINTER ; AS 
AN UNCLE ; AND AS NEGOTIATOR IN MARRIAGE — ^AN AUSPICIOUS OMEN — ^DEATH 
OF THE VICAR OF THE DIOCESS OF NICARAGUA — HIS OBSEQUIES — A FUNERAL 
ORATION — PRIESTLY ELOQUENCE — AN EPITAPH — GENERAL FUNERAL CEREMO- 
NIES — DEATH AS AN ANGEL OF MERCY — BURIAL PRACTICES — CAPELLANIA8 ; 
THEIR EFFECTS, AND THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT IN RESPECT TO THEM — 
POPULAR BIGOTRY AND SUPERSTITION — AN ANCIENT INDULGENCE — THE POTEN- 
CY OF AN EJACULATION — REMISSION OF SINS — PENETENCIAS — RATIONALE OF 
THE PRACTICE — NOVEL PENANCES — TURNING SINS TO GOOD ACCOUNT — GOOD 
FROM EVIL — SYSTEM OF THE PADRE CARTINE — THE DIOCESS OF NICARAGUA, 
AND ITS BISHOP — GENERAL EDUCATION — PUBUC SCHOOLS — THE UNIVERSITIES 
OF LEON AND GRANADA — A SAD PICTURE. 

Although there is probably less religious bigotry in 
Nicaragua and San Salvador than in most of the Spanish 
American States, yet the priests still exercise considerable 
influence amongst the popular masses. To their credit, how- 
ever, be it said, that many of them, although not highly edu- 
cated, are not only men of liberal sentiments, but amongst 
the most active promoters of measures of general improve- 
ment. Previous to the Independence, the Church in Central 
America was well endowed, and quite as exacting as in any 
other part of the continent, or in Spain itself. For some 

47 



370 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

time subsequent to that event, it retained mucli of its strengtli, 
and was active in the political aflfairs of the country. Unfor- 
tunately, its influence was seldom felt in behalf of liberal in- 
stitutions, general or local. 

It is_llQt_tobe doubted that the men who were the pro- 
f moters of thelndependence^^^ most activeTn the establish- 
jment of the Eepublic, were very little under priestly influ- 
jence ; for one of the first acts of the National Constituent 
jAssembly was to prohibit the sale of Papal indulgences, and 
/to limit the exactions of the Church. This policy arrayed 
/the priestly influence against the new order of things, and it 
j was henceforth exercised in favor of the aristocratical, mon- 
archical, or Servile faction, against the Liberals and the Re- 
public, — ^thus becoming one of the causes of many of the 
disasters to which the country has since been subjected. 
Yet the zeal of the Priests did not fail to react upon 
themselves. They entered into the arena of politics, and 
were treated as partisans in the civil contests. They es- 
poused the cause of an obnoxious faction, and came to share 
its odium as well as its misfortunes. The Liberals, emanci- 
pated from the machinery of the Church, soon began to look 
with incredulity on its doctrines, and with contempt on its 
forms ; and although the people of Central America are still 
nominally Catholics, yet amongst those capable of reflection, 
or possessed of education, there are more who are destitute 
of any fixed creed, rationalists, or what are sometimes called 
free thinkers, than Catholics, or adherents of any form of 
religion. Many of the priests share in the general skepticism. 

I The first decided encounter between the Church and the 
Republic, was in 1825, when the people of San Salvador, the 
stronghold of Liberalism, dissatisfied with the political ten- 
dencies of the Bishop of Guatemala, under whose ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction they were, elected a Bishop of their own, in 
defiance of the Archbishop and the Pope. This example 
was soon after followed by Nicaragua. The ignorant priest- 



DECLINE or THE CHURCH. 87 1 

hood, the friars of Quesaltenango, aiding with the Archbishop 
and the Serviles, infuriated by this and other bold innovations, 
contrived to excite the Indians in Los Altos, who in their 
fury cruelly slaughtered the vice-president of the Republic ; 
and for a time the Liberals were overwhelmed by the coali- 
tion. They, however, afterwards rallied under Gen. Morazan. 
During his enlightened and vigorous sway, in 1829, it was 
discovered that the Archbishop was intriguing against the 
government ; and it was then the Church received a blow 
from which it can never recover. Morazan was not a man 
to be trifled with ; he boldly seized the Archbishop, and 
sent him out of the country under a guard of soldiers, for- 
bidding his return under penalty of death. The monks and 
friars belonging to the various convents and monasteries of 
Guatemala, who were deeply concerned with the Archbishop, 
were expelled in an equally summary manner. But the 
measures thus commenced did not stop here. The Legisla- 
ture of Guatemala decreed the suppression of all the male 
convents, prohibited females from becoming nuns for the 
future, and appropriated the revenues of the suppressed 
monasteries. This act was ratified by the General Congress, 
which, catching the same spirit, within two months after the 
banishment of the Archbishop declared all religious orders 
at an end throughout the Republic. This decisive measure 
met with the almost unanimous sanction of the people, and 
was at once carried into effect in the several States. The 
Congress also decreed not only complete Religious Liberty, 
but that the appointment to church dignities pertained to the 
nation, and should be made by the President of the Republic ; 
prohibited the promulgation of all papal bulls, unless they 
had received the previous sanction of the Federal Govern- 
ment, as also the sale or use of papal dispensations, of what- 
ever character. The State of Honduras shortly afterwards 
passed a law, which, I believe, was also adopted by all the 
other States, legalizing the marriage of the priests, and legiti- 



372 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

matizing their children, so as to permit of their succeeding 
to their fathers' property.* 

Subsequently to the dissolution of the confederacy, and 
under the direction of 'the Serviles, the convents of Guate- 
mala were re-established, but the other States have persisted 
in the prohibitory action of 1829, or rather no attempt has 
been made to revive the monasteries suppressed under it. 
There were formerly, as I have already said, three convents 
in Leon ; that of San Juan de Dios has been converted into 
a hospital ; that of La Merced is only used by the govern- 
ment in case of need as a cuartel, or barracks. The largest, 
' the Franciscan, although in a state of hopeless decay, is still 
watched over faithfully by the Padre Cartine. He has thus 
far preserved its precincts sacred from profane intrusion, and 
lingers silently amongst its dilapidated corridors, and weed- 
infested courts, like the antiquary amongst the tombs, the 
last of the powerful fraternity of San Francisco in Leon. 

The Padre Cartine is a learned man, in the continental ac- 
ceptation of the term of two centuries ago. That is to say, 
he reads Latin and the Fathers, and is familiar with the 
Natural History of Pliny, — the latest book on the subject 
with which he is acquainted, and which is his sole authority. 

* In their zeal to educate the people, and to weaken their religious pre- 
judices, theatres were established, in which the arts and objects of priest- 
craft were exposed to ridicule, contempt, and reprobation. A play called 
*'LaInquisicionpor dcntro," or "A Peep into the Inquisition," had a great 
run, and brought that institution into eflfectual and lasting odium. 

" In Guatemala," says Mr. Crowe, " Papal bulls of indulgence, which 
used to be as much valued as paper currency in other countries, are now 
used by the shopkeepers as waste paper for wrapping their goods. In 
San Salvador, the Bishop, a few years since, oflfered first twenty and after- 
wards forty days of plenary indulgence, to be deducted from the period of 
purgatorial sufferings after death, to all who should aid in removing an 
unsightly mound of earth which disgraced one of the squares of the city, 
and injured the effect of the Cathedral ; but the mound remained, althoagh 
the Bishop again doubled the promised remission." 



THE PADRE CARTINE. 873 

The Padre is withal a mathematician, has a Latin edition of 
Euclid, and reads it once a year by way of amusement, and 
to refresh his memory. He is an architect, and has made 
a plan for the restoration of the convent, on a scale of splen- 
dor which would beggar a prince to carry out, and feels as 
anxious about its accuracy as if the masons were to commence 
to-morrow, and any defect in the plan would ruin the archi- 
tectural effect of the structure for ever. 

I am not likely to forget my first visit to Padre Cartine. 
I found him seated in a broad arm-chair, in the principal 
room of his house. He had been a man of fine proportions, 
but was now a little corpulent, a defect only to be observed 
when he was standing. His head was of fine outline, large, 
and massive, and his face had an expression of intelligence, 
dignity, and equanimity, at once pleasing and impressive. 
He wore a dress of coarse, gray serge, bound at the waist by 
a rough pita cord, for he still kept up many of the austere 
practices of his order. The furniture of the house was plain 
and simple, and I believe all of the Padre's own manufacture. 
Upon a low bench extending around two sides of the room, 
was a most incongruous assortment of clocks, of every date, 
pattern, and country, from a tall cupboard contrivance of the 
last century, dingy with age, in the corner, through every 
intermediate variety, to a little German or French concern, 
which ticked spitefully from the opposite wall. There were 
cases without clocks, and clocks without cases; besides a 
wilderness of weights, cords, pulleys, wheels, and springs; 
for the Padre was so passionately fond of clocks, that he not 
only kept an extensive variety of his own to tinker, but 
borrowed all of his neighbors', and encouraged the distant 
villagers to bring him theirs for gratuitous cleansing and 
repair. No Jew's second-hand furniture-shop in Chatham 
street could afford more than a very faint counterpart of this 
curious collection. The Padre observed that they attracted 
my attention, and commenced a philosophical lecture on 



874 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

horology, which I hastily brought to a close by suggesting a 
walk through the old convent and the church which had 
been attached to it. In the first courtyard were half a dozen 
deer, tame as kittens, which came bounding up at the sound 
of the Padre's voice ; they licked his extended hand, and held 
down their heads to have them rubbed, but failing to cajole 
the Padre out of a plantain or tortilla, butted him playfully, 
and struck at him with well-feigned malice. Upon one side 
of this court the Padre had fitted up a private chapel. It 
contained a marble altar, a wax figure of Christ, and a great 
variety of valuable ornaments saved from the wreck of the 
monastery, and with which no earthly consideration could 
prevail upon the Padre to part. An expression, half of sor- 
row, half of pride, passed over the Padre's face as he held 
the door open that we might see the precious contents of his 
oratory. From this he took us to a large room, his own pri- 
vate apartment, in which was the rough hide bed whereon 
he slept, and which contrasted strangely with a rich set of 
travelling wine and liqueur bottles, which he complacently 
displayed to us, (not badly filled, by the way), in a secure 
closet. In another room the Padre had his workshop. In 
one comer was a foot-lathe of his own construction, in which 
he turned beads from the arm-bones of defunct Sefioras, to 
be strung on consecrated rosaries, and sold for the benefit of 
piety and the church — whose interests have always won- 
derfully accorded. Ilere were kettles containing purified 
sulphur from the volcanoes, nitre, and charcoal, to be com- 
pounded for the glorification of the saints, the service of the 
Lord, and the utter desperation of heretics, in the form of 
bombius. Ilere, too, was a machine, also of the Padre s in 
vention and construction, for grinding and polishing the 
glasses of spectacles, for the Padre, amongst his multifarious 
accomplishments, was an optician, the only one, probably, in 
all Central America. lie had, in fact, constructed a telescope 
for the University of Leon, and astounded the citizens by 



A SKULL, AND ITS HISTORY. 875 

showing them the rings of Saturn ! " You are a most accom* 
plished man, Padre," said I, glancing at his mechanical 
achievements. " Juguetes^^^ playthings, mere playthings, re- 
sponded the Padre, with a complacent smile, which was 
intended to be depreciatory. In the third courtyard, next 
the church, grew a magnificent mangb tree. At its foot a 
mozo had been digging, to extirpate some burrowing animal, 
and had thrown up a variety of human bones, and amongst 
them a skull. Its delicate proportions attracted my atten- 
tion, and I stepped aside and picked it up. 

"Ah, Padre, this is a woman's skull, a girl's skidl, I am 
sure ! Padre, how came it here ?" 

The Padre took it quickly from my hand, looked at it, 
and then gazed in an abstracted, reflecting manner upon the 
spot which it had occupied. After a few moments' sUence, 
he spoke, deliberately removing the earth from the eye 
sockets with his fore-finger ; 

" Ah, SefSor 1 she was very beautiful, this girl. She was 

the youngest daughter of Seiiora M ! Heaven rest her 

soul I She died of the cholera in the year '87. Five thou- 
sand of our people died in four short months, Seiior ! The 
SeSorita Inez ! She was only sixteen years old, Sefior ; but 
yet a woman, and beautiful, very beautiful I" 

And the Padre held the delicate skull before him, as if it 
was clothed with flesh again, and he gazed upon the smiling 
face once more. 

"Very beautiful," he soliloquized. "She was amongst 
the first ; there are five hundred buried in this very court, 
Sefior," said the Padre rapidly, turning towards me, and 
crossing himself. "Five thousand in four months! in four 
short months!" 

The expression of the old man's face, as the memory of those 
four months came back upon him, showed how terrible and 
ineffaceable were the scenes which they had witnessed. " She 
was very beautiful!" and the Padre placed the skull gently 



376 NICABAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

in the earth again, laid the delicate bones carefully around it, 
and with his naked hand scraped the loose earth above 
them. 

The interior of the Eglesia del Recoleccion, which has a 
most elaborate fagade, covered with shields on which are 
exhibited all the prcmiinent devices of the church, was dark 
and gloomy. The altar was a fine one, and the Padre kept 
a lamp burning constantly before an image of the Virgin, 
which looked spectral enough beneath its feeble rays. A 
number of pictures were suspended upon the walls, among 
which were a variety of saints frying complacently upon 
gridirons, smiling from stakes of impalement, or sailing 
smoothly away amongst a swarm of baby angels and bodi- 
less cherubs, to a most substantial looking heaven, elevated 
only a few yards above the earth. We ascended into the 
tower by a series of rickety stairs, with gaps here and there 
ranging from one to four steps, up which the prudent Padre 
did not essay to go. From this tower we obtained a fine 
view, second only to that to be had fi-om the top of the 
Cathedral. As we descended, a huge owl, which we had 
startled from his roost in some dark corner of the tower, 
nearly knocked us over in his flight. We returned through 
the Golgotha, to the grand reception or clock room, where 
the Padre showed us his plan for restoring the convent, in 
red and black ink, which required only a single thing to its 
realization, and that was precisely what the Padre did not 
know how to obtain, viz., money ! We nevertheless made 
him happy before leaving, by promising to write to the TJni- 
ted States, on his behalf, to obtain a grand clock for his 
church, which should exhibit three dials, and strike the 
hours. "Con tres frentes!" repeated the Padre, calling after 
us a.s we passed down the street, " with three dials !'' 

The Padre ultimately became my landlord. I hired a 
house of him, which he had himself designed and built, op- 
posite the old convento. It had a grand sala and two rooms 



DBCOBATIVE ART. 877 

on the street, with quarters for the servants, and a kitchen, 
arranged after the usual plan, — altogether one of the most 
desirable buildings in Leon. It had before rented for six dol- 
lars per month, but as I was a particular friend of the Padre, 
I got it for nine. The Padre was really ashamed to ask that 
sum, but then he had written a religious pamphlet, which he 
wanted to publish, and I told him that I should be too happy 
to contribute to that laudable object, and that the house was 
worth twice the money, — which was pretty good, considering 
that the best house in Leon rented for but fourteen dollars 
per month. The Padre had achieved a great triumph in 
painting the interior of this house. It was done in fresco, in 
a style as novel as complicated, and with as many colors as 
oould conveniently be compounded. But the Padre's chef 
d^cRuvre was the 'menagerie^ as we called it, upon the wall of 
the servants' corridor. His models had been the figures of 
animals and objects represented in the Child's First Primer, 
or illustrated alphabet, a copy of which he must have ob- 
tained from the United States or England, for there was the 
entire series commencing " A was an Ape that ran after his 
tail," down to " Z was a Zebra who came from the Cape," all 
depicted of large size, and in flaming colors. This fact will 
perhaps sufficiently illustrate the state of decorative art in 
Nicaragua, 

The Padre had a niece {de facto , oh skeptic!) who, with 
her mother, occupied a detached part of his own house, and 
over whom, as she was exceedingly pretty, he kept most 
rigorous watch. He gave out, for the benefit of gallants, 
that he would shoot the first who should be seen around the 
premises, and really kept a loaded musket for the purpose. 
The Padre was a man of his word, and the threat was effect- 
ual in its object ; the gallants kept away. The last time I 
heard from Leon, a young American, from Boston, was 
diplomatizing with the Padre for the hand of his sobrina ; it 
went hard to resign her to a heretic, but the Padre's heart is 

48 



378 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

soft, and even rocks yield to time. Boston and Leon ; Mas- 
sachusetts and Nicaragua ; the omen is auspicious and sig- 
nificant ! 

I have elsewhere mentioned the name of the Vicario of the 
Bishopric, Don Desiderio de la Quadra, who was the first of 
the clergy to pay his respects to me, upon my arrival in Leon. 
He was then ill, and died on the 4th of October following. 
His funeral was conducted with great ceremony and solemni- 
ty. On the morning of the 6th, circulars, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy, were directed to all the principal inliabit- 
ants, and left by a messenger bearing a silver cross shrouded 
in crape, from the Cathedral. 

" Al Sen'or ; 

'^ A las seis de la tardc de ayer ha muerto nuestro muy amado tio el Sr. 
Vicario Capitular y Apostolico, Presbitero Beneficiado Dr. Don Jose De- 
siderio Quadra : su cadaver sera sepultado en la Santa Catcdral Yglesia 
de esta Ciudad, saliendo el entierro a las cuatro de la tarde de la casa de 
su morada. Si U. se dignase honrarle con su asistencia, le seran muy re- 
conocidos sus mas atentos servidores Q. B. S. M. 

Trinidad Quadra. Mateo Mayorga. 

Ijton^ Oduhre 5 de 1849. 

At the appointed hour we proceeded to the house which 
the A'icar had occupied. It was a large building, furnished 
in the simplest manner, for the Vicar was a practical as well 
as professed follower of Christ, and was faithful to his vows 
of poverty. All of his income, except the small sum neces- 
sary to supply his frugal wants, was devoted to charity. 
The courtyard and the corridor were already filled with peo- 
ple ; and the clergy occupied the grand sala in which the 
corjise was lying. The ceremonies of the funeral had al- 
ready conunenccd, we could hear the chants and prayers, 
and sec the wax lights, but the place was overcrowded, and 
we did not attem|)t to enter. After a while a passage was 
opened tli rough the assemblage for the bearers of the dead, 



PUNBRAL OF THE VICAR. 879 

preceded and surrounded by priests, full robed and with un- 
covered heads. The people in the courtyard knelt, as the 
remains were carried by. In the street was a sort of car, 
covered with drapery, upon which the corpse, dressed in the 
vicarial robes, was placed. Here another prayer was chant- 
ed ; and when it was concluded, the car, surrounded by the 
entire body of the clergy, and preceded by the empty eccle- 
siastical carriage, moved towards the Cathedral. All the 
oflBlcers of State, and a large number of the principal citizens, 
bearing wax candles, followed ; and then came the mass of 
the people, without order, but silently and decently. The 
cortege stopped at each corner, where a prayer was repeated 
in low recitative by the priests, who walked slowly around 
the car, and sprinkled the ground with holy water. The 
troops were drawn up with arms reversed, in the plaza, 
which the procession entered amidst the tolling of the muf- 
fled bells of the Cathedral. The body was carried up the 
main aisle, and placed upon an elevated platform, immedi- 
ately in front of the great altar, while the choir filled the 
vast building with the solemn tones of the chant for the 
dead. The light fell from the dome full upon the rigid face 
of the corpse, calm and cold as marble, surrounded by ear- 
nest groups, standing silently in the shadows of the lofty 
arches. An extempore funeral oration was pronounced by 
the Senor Presbitero Dean D. Eemuio Salazar, of the 
town of El Viejo. It was founded on the passage in the 
eleventh chapter of Leviticus, " Scd santos, porque yo soy 
santo." " Be ye holy, for I am holy," and was given with 
good oratorical effect and much feeling, and was altogether 
impressive and appropriate. Its tenor was to show that the 
deceased, from his observance of the requisitions of God and 
the church, was entitled to be regarded as a saint. The 
analysis of what constitutes "the Israelite indeed," was 
made with great clearness and eloquence, and in more pre- 



880 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

tending countries than those of Nicaragua, would have 
stamped its author as a man of no ordinary abilities. 

" The true saint," said the speaker, " walks apart from the 
glittering road trodden by the proud and selfish world. His 
is the path in the valley of humility. He pants not for the 
glory of the soldier, or the fame of the statesman, the 
splendor of wealth, or the dignity of social position. Has 
he talents? He consecrates them to our holy religion. Has he 
wealth ? It is a free oflFering at the feet o£ Charity. Has 
he a lofty lineage, and illustrious name ? He humbly sur- 
renders them at the shrine of the Church. All this did the 
venerated dead ! He was a man who feared God, and ad- 
hered steadfastly to his service ; irreproachable in conduct, a 
faithful son, a true friend, an obedient citizen, a man disin- 
terested in his views and actions, moderate in his desires, 
uncomplaining in adversity, humble, in prosperity ; purified 
in the fire, weighed in the balance, by the loftiest standard ol 
the Holy Law, he is proved a saint ! And now, amidst the 
glorious array of saints and martyrs, beyond the clouded 
atmosphere of earth, in the eternal sunshine of Divinity, 
dwells that pure and immortal spirit whose rejected tene- 
ment, cold and motionless, we have assembled to consign to 
the silent house appointed for all living. Our tears fiUl on 
the earth, but our smiles are reflected in Heaven !" 

Amongst the many epitaphs and fragmentary poetical trib- 
utes elicited by the death of this Vicar, the subjoined may 
be taken as a very fair example. With what has been pre- 
sented elsewhere, it will no doubt satisfy the reader that the 
tropical muse seldom rises to lofty flights. 

EPITAFIO 

A la muerk del mxiyillusire y venerable Prelate, el Sehor PreshUero Dr. 
Don Desiderio d^ la Quadra, Vicar io Capitular de esia Dibcesis. 

Despues dc tantos anos de virtud, 
El feudo jtajra? ciial mortal viviente, 



CONCEFnOKS OF DEATH. 881 

Para acercaros al trono Onmipotente 
De aquel Dios de etema beatitud : 

AUf, alii la inmensa multitud 
De Santos que te adoran reverentes, 
Abriendo campo k tu espirftu inocente, 
Ponen en tus manos sonoro la^d. 

Goza esa vida inmortal que te deseo 
Al Qiismo tiempo que tu muerte Uoro ; 
Y mientras entre los justos yo te veo, 

Disfhita cantando en alto coro 
Saftrica corona por trofeo 
De Opalo una palma, una Silla de oro. 
Leon, Octubre 5 de 1849. 

The funeral of the Vicar was far more solemn than any 
other which I witnessed in the country. In most instances 
the funeral ceremony has few of those gloomy accessories 
which our customs prescribe as no more than decorous. 
Youth, innocence, and beauty, like ornaments on the brow of 
age, or on the withered limbs of deformity, serve only to 
heighten the terrors of our grim conception of death, the 
gloomy and remorseless tyrant who gloats, fiend-like, over 
the victims of his skeleton arm. Theirs is a happier con- 
ception. Death mercifully reheves the infant from the sor- 
rows and the dangers of life ; and withers the rose on the 
cheeks of youth, that it may retain its bloom and fragrance 
in the more genial atmosphere of Heaven. The tear of 
grief falls only for those whose long contact with the world 
has effaced the stamp of divinity, whose matured passions 
have cankered the heart, and whose misdirected ambitions 
have diverted the aspirations of the soul and the energies of 
the mind fix)m heaven to earth, from the grandeurs of Eter- 
nity to the frivolities of Time. 

The youngest daughter of the Licenciado D. died and was 
buried in the latter part of October. She was young, scarce 
sixteen, and the idolized child of her parents. Her funeral 
might have been her bridal, in its total freedom from out- 



8d2 NICARAGUA'-^NABBATiyE. 

ward manifestations of grief The procession formed before 
my window. First were musicians playing a cheerful strain, 
and next the priests chaunting a song of triumph. After 
them, on the shoulders of young men, was borne a litter, 
covered with white satin and loaded with orange branches, 
amidst which,. dressed in white as for a festival, her head 
wreathed with piire white flowers, and holding in her hands 
a silver cross, was the marble form of the dead girl. The 
bereaved parents, the sisters and relations of the deceased 
followed ; their eyes were tearless, and though the traces of 
sorrow were visible on their feces, yet over all there was an 
expression of hope, and of faith in the teachings of Him who 
has declared ^^ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see Grod»" 

The funerals of infents are much the same. The body is 
invariably dressed in white, and covered with flowers. Men 
firing rockets, and musicians playing lively airs, precede the 
corpse, and the parents and relatives follow. The rationale 
of this apparent want of feeling is to be found in the Bomish 
doctrine of baptismal regeneration, according to which the 
departed spirit being in heaven, there is more cause for hap- 
piness than grief. 

When an adult is dangerously ill, or dying, a priest is 
called, who goes for the Viaticum. An altar is hastily erected 
in the sick chamber ; a crucifix is placed upon it, surrounded 
with lighted candles and flowers, a place being left for the 
Costodia^ a vessel generally of gold and richly jewelled, con- 
taining the consecrated wafer. This is brought by a priest 
in a litter or carriage, surrounded by soldiers and boys bear- 
ing lighted candles, and preceded by music, — sometimes 
consisting only of a single violin. The people kneel as the 
procession passes through the streets. Arrived at the sick 
chamber, tlie sacrament and the last rites of the church are 
administered to the dying one, whose friends, gathering close 
around the bed, whisper "Jesus te ampara," "Jesus te aux- 



FUNERAL RITES. 888 

ilie," " Maria te favoresca," — Jesus protect thee, Jesus help 
thee, Maria favor thee, — and then, when they suppose the 
final struggle transpiring, they ejaculate, "Jesus, Jesus, 
Jesus !" 

" Among the more refined inhabitants," says Mr. Crowe, 
in his interesting book on Guatemala, (and the same practice 
is followed throughout the country,) " after the cofl&n, covered 
with black velvet, has been removed from between the 
gigantic candles which cast a pale glare upon it in the sombre 
apartment, it is followed by a long train of friends on foot, 
bearing lighted candles, to the church, and then to the ceme- 
tery. When the corpse has been finally deposited, the friends 
return slowly and in groups to the house of mourning, where 
the chief mourner has remained, and is now waiting to 
receive them in a large room or hall, hung with black cloth, 
at one end of which he sits, supported on his left or right by 
two near kinsmen or special friends. The visitors sit silently 
before him for a few minutes, on seats which are placed for 
them on either side of the room, and having thus manifested 
their participation in the grief of the family, they rise, one 
after another, gently press the hand of the chief mourner, 
and, if they are intimate friends, perhaps add a word or two 
of condolence. They then retire, and are succeeded by others 
in the same manner." * 

There is, however, much that is repugnant in the burials, 
particularly as practised in Leon. Near most of the towns 
is what is called the Campo Santo, an enclosed consecrated 
cemetery, in which the dead are buried upon the payment of 
a small sum, which 'is devoted to keeping the grounds in 
order. But in Leon the practice of burying in the churches 
has always prevailed, and is perpetuated through the influ- 
ence of the priests, who derive a considerable fee from each 
burial. The consequence is, that the ground within and 

' (Jospel in Central America, p. 373. 



884 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVK. 

around the churches has become (if the term is admissible) 
saturated with the dead. The burials are made according to 
the amount paid to the church, for from ten to twentj-five 
years, at the end of which time the bones, with the earth 
around them, are removed and sold to the manufisicturers of 
nitre 1 The government has opposed the entire practice for 
many years, and during the period of the cholera prohibited it 
But the instability of affairs in the country has been such, 
that the authorities have hesitated to provoke the hostility of 
the entire priesthood by putting a peremptory end to the 
practice. Coflins are rarely used. The corpse is placed at the 
bottom of the grave, the earth rudely thrown in, and beaten 
hard with heavy ranmiers, with a degree of indifference, not 
to say brutality, which is really shocking, and which I never 
permitted myself to witness a second time. 

Amongst the sources of revenue to which the priesthood 
has adhered with greatest tenacity, and the gradual abolition 
of which is one of the leading measures of the Grovernment 
policy of Nicaragua, is what is called the capellania^ or lien 
on property, conveyed to the priests by proprietors at their 
death, to secure certain masses or other priestly interpositions 
on behalf of their souls, or conveyed to churches for the 
same laudable objects. Thus Don Fulano finding his end 
approaching, gives to his priest a lien of twenty dollars a 
year on his estate, in consideration of which a certain num- 
ber of masses shall be said for him annually. Next year the 
Dofia Fulano dies, and, not to be outdone in piety, she 
secures to her favorite church another annual sum to be 
invested in " villainous saltpetre" for the glorification of her 
protecting Santa, and the benefit of her own " alma." It will 
readily be seen that the continuance of this process through 
a series of years must, in the end, seriously embarrass the 
real estate of the country, and prove an effectual check to 
the improvement of that species of property. Thus the most 
desirable portions of Leon, once covered with squares of 



DECLINE OP POPULAR BIGOTRY. 885 

palaces, are now waste and unoccupied, in consequence of 
the accumulation of the capellanias, which exceed in amount 
the market value of the groimd. 

During my stay in Leon, and in spite of the opposition of 
those interested in maintaining them, the Legislative Cham- 
bers decreed the abolition of ten per cent, of the capellanias, 
excepting those dedicated to educational purposes. Pre- 
viously, I believe, fifteen per cent, had been appropriated by 
the Government, and oflFered for commutation at a nominal 
sum. The entire extinction of the capellanias, and the 
release of the property which they have so long burthened 
and rendered valueless, will be the ultimate and happy 
result of these advances. 

I have said that the masses of the people still cherish 
something of their original religious bigotry. It is, never- 
theless, fast giving way to more liberal sentiments, and no 
objection is made to foreigners on the score of religion, so 
long as they preserve a decent respect for the ceremonies of 
the church, and do not outrage the prejudices which educa- 
tion and custom have created, and which are no more numer- 
ous nor stronger than with us, although they have a some- 
what different direction. That there is much of ignorance 
and superstition amongst the people, is unfortunately true ; 
nor is the fiact at all surprising, in consideration of their 
antecedents, and the circumstances under which they have 
been placed. 

It is somewhat difficult to ascertain how far the faith of 
the better classes in papal infallibility, and other matters to 
which an apparent entire deference is accorded, really ex- 
tends. We can hardly conceive that the following antiquated 

' An English Protestant Missionary, Mr. F. Orowe, who was established 
in Gruatemala for some years, until driven out by the servile Gbvemment, 
has recently published a work entitled the " Gospel in Central America,'' 
in which he observes : 

"Of the fact that infidelity has spread extensively in Central America, 
49 



886 KICABAGUA— -NARRATIVE. 

indulgence should be posted upon every door in the houses 
of the most intelligent familes, except in politic confonnity 
to prejudices, not shared by those femilies themselves, but 
which they do not care to oppose. Yet it met my eye 
almost everywhere, in the houses alike of the rich and the 
poor, of the Indian and the Cabellero : — 



f 




ALABADO SEA EL 

S ANTISIMO 

SACRAMENTO 

DEL ALTAR! 

Nuestro Santlsimo Padre Paulo V. de feliz memoria, en su Bula de 
17. de Abril despachada en Roma del ano del Senor de 1612, conce- 
di^ indulgencia plenaria, y remision de la tercera parte de los peca- • 
dos, a cualquiera persona que en su casa tuviere escrito donde su 
pueda ler g^ la anterior jacxjlatoria ; ,„^ y la misma indul- 
gencia plenaria, todas las veces que lo leyeren, y el que no supiere 
ler, venerare el escrito. 

Copiado del original de indidgencias. 



and particularly so amongst the very classes upon which Romanism had 
formerly the strongest hold, there can be no doubt. It is proved by the 
almost total abandonment of the outward observances of Popery by the 
better educated amongst the Ladinos, and, in spite of their political ten- 
dencies, by the whites and pure Creoles also. With the exception of the 
more weak amongst the women and children, scarcely any of these classes 
•re now to be seen attending mass or confession, and other requirements 
are generally neglected by them. Numbers of infidel books are to be 
fonnd in the libraries, and in the hands of all classes and sexes. So 
strongly are the minds of these classes imbued with deistical and atheis- 
ttcal notions, that it becomes apparent, and is unblushingly avowed in 



ANTIQUATED INDULGXNCBS. 387 

PRAISK BE TO THB 
MOST HOLY SACBAMENT OF THE ALTAR I 

"Our most holy Father Paul V. of happy memory, in his Bull from 
Rome, April 17, in the year of our Lord 1612, conceded plenary indulge 
enoe and remission of the third part of his sins to whoever should 
write in his house where it might be read E^the preceding ejacula- 
TiON_J3; and the same plenary indulgence every time he should read it, 
or if he should not be able to read, every time he should venerate the 
writing," L e., look upon it with veneration. 

" Bendito y alabado sea el Santo Sacramento del Altar," 
Blessed and praised be the holy Saorament of the Altar, is 
the common ejaculation of the servant who in the evening, 
first brings lighted candles into the occupied rooms of the 
various houses. It is uttered mechanically, in a drawling, 
nasal tone, and was formerly always responded to by the 
members of the family; but like many other customs, the 
latter part of the practice has now become obsolete. The 
recipient of a favor acknowledges it by " Dios se lo pague," 
God repay you ; if an engagement is made, it is with the 
qualification, " si Dios quiere," if God wills ; and when a 
bond is entered into, it is always with the reservation, " Pri- 
mero Dios," i. e., if my first duty to God will permit. The 
" higher law" is always recognized, in form if not in spirit. 

general conversation. Nay, some of the more candid among the priests 
openly espouse these notions."— p. 257. 

Some of the priests, this author adds, ridicule the pretended authority 
of the Pope, and rejoice at the emancipation of the people from the 
Church of Rome. Mr. Crowe rejoices also, at the success of infidelity 
over Romanism, as likely to result in good. " The change from Popery, 
or any other analogous system," he writes, "to the entire rejection of re- 
vealed religion, is one which believers in Divine Revelation may hail with 
satisfaction, if they be prepared to take advantage of it; for it breaks up 
prejudices of education, leads to thought and inquiry, and sometimes 
to a sincere and earnest search after truth!" 



888 KICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVK. 

" Dios sobre todos," Grod over all, is the commonest of pio- 
verbs. 

The public Penitencias, or Penances, afford striking 
illustrations of the strength of the popular superstitions, and 
of the priestly influence. I witnessed one of these, shortly 
after my arrival in Leon. It consisted of a long procession 
of men and boys, one or two hundred in number, barefooted 
and stripped to the waist, their heads and faces covered with 
veils so as to prevent recognition, who marched through the 
public streets, from one church to another, flagellating 
themselves with raw hide thongs. They were preceded by 
a life-size figure of Christ on the cross, a score of musicians, 
and a crowd of priests and women, (all of the latter barefoot* 
ed and some bearing heavy crosses on their shoulders,) who 
chanted prayers, while the penitents beat time with the 
thongs over their own shoulders. Each one carried a little 
cross before him in his hand, with his head bent forward as if 
in earnest contemplation of the sacred symbol. It was a sin- 
gular spectacle ; for there were black bodies, and brown, and 
white bodies, and yellow, and the sharp strokes of the thongs 
in the pauses of the slow and mournful music, fairly made 
the flesh of the spectator creep. There was, however, no spe- 
cial occasion for sympathy, for each penitent had it in his 
power to graduate the force of his own blows to his own 
notions of the enormity of his moral offences. Some laid it 
on gently, — moderate sinners ! — merely as a matter of form ; 
but there were others who punished themselves lustily, and 
drew blood from their quivering flesh at every blow, which 
ran down to their very heels, and purpled the ground where 
they trod. 

It seems almost incredible that these heathenish practices, 
only one remove from human sacrifices, should yet be perpet- 
uated amongst nations claiming to be civilized. Still, when 
we reflect that firsts and other mortifications of the body are 
prescribed by the rituals of our own churches, and pro- 



BEKKANTS OF BARBARISM. 889 

diimed from the executive chair of our own nation, we 
ought not Jx> be surprised at any manifestation of human 
fi>U J, or wonder that the popular conception of Grod is not yet 
purified from the horrible and detestable features with which 
it was invested in the darkest ages of the world, and in the 
most debased stages of the human mind. The belief that 
the all-good and ominipotent Ruler of the Universe can be 
pleased with the self-inflicted punishment of his creatures, 
whether it be through fasting or flagellation, differs in no re- 
Bpect from that which actuates the frantic Hindoo, who pros- 
trates himself before the crushing wheels of Jaggenath, or 
that inflamed the poor Mexican, who offered his willing 
breast to the knife of the Aztec priest, that his palpitating 
heart might bathe the lips of the idol which was the visible 
representation of his sanguinary Godl 

There were other Penitencias, not public, but which were 
perhaps more severe. A hundred or more of the penitents 
are sometimes locked within a church, where they remain for 
nine days, sleeping but four hours out of the twenty -four, 
and eating but once in that period. The I'est of the time is 
divided between the various ceremonies prescribed by the 
rigid rules of the penitencia, upon their knees, or prone on 
the rough floor of the dark church in which they are con- 
fined. While I resided near the Eglesia de la Merced, one 
of these penitencias took place, and I was several times 
awakened in the dead of night by the wailings of the peni- 
tents, mingling harshly with the low and cheerful melodies 
of that Nature which harmonizes with its great Author, and 
upon whose laws kingcraft and priestcraft, the world over, 
and in every age, have waged a constant and most unnatural 
and unholy war. The horrible doctrine of original sin, and 
the eflScacy of austerities, penances, and inmiolations, parts 
of one system, find the best evidence of their truth in the 
fiwt of their existence amongst men ! I saw the enthusiasts 
when they came out of the church, pale, haggard, and filthy ; 



390 NICARAGUA — ^NABRATIVB. 

some, in fact, so exhausted that they could not walk without 
assistance, and who tottered from the scenes of t^eir debase* 
ment to beds of sickness and death. 

Very novel penances are sometimes prescribed by the 
priests by way of atonement for individual iniquities. The 
Padre Cartine was particularly ingenious and happy in im- 
posing them. Lazy fellows and bon mvants, to whom he 
thought exercise and fasting would prove beneficial, he sent 
bare-footed and alone to £1 Viejo, or some place at a distance, 
under the restriction to speak to no human being on the 
way, nor to eat, nor yet to sleep, until their return. A 
heavy stone, rough and angular, had sometimes to be carried 
on the naked shoulders of the penitent, or a cross of heavy 
wood, according to the more or less heinous nature of the 
poor deviVs oflFences. Carpenters, masons, and all other 
valuable sinners, whose labor could be turned to good ac- 
count, the Padre set to work in repairing or improving his 
church and the buildings attached to it, and never failed to 
put the good workmen " well in for it." Occasionally he 
got hold of a stupid fellow who failed to perform a profitable 
day's labor. In such cases the Padre had a whip, made of 
the skin of the dant€j or tapir, which he scrupled not to apply 
to the delinquent's back, for the benefit of his soul, and the 
acceleration of the particular job in hand. And it is report- 
ed that these applications are sometimes accompanied with 
terms more forcible than complimentary ; but I don't vouch 
for the truth of that. 

For one or two months during my stay in Leon, the Padre 
had under his surveillance a priest, suspended for licentious 
conduct, with whom he was extremely rigorous. I ^vas an 
accidental witness of his severity on one occasion, when the 
Host was passing. The suspended Padre, in common with 
all the people, came to the door, but instead of bending Uke 
the rest on the hard threshold, he knelt comfortably in a 
soft-bottomed chair. The indignant monk saw the dodge, 



THE DIOCESS OF NIGABAGUA. 881 

and Tifliiig hastily, with a yigorous blow of his foot knocked 
the chair from underneath the delinquent, who came down 
with a force which must have jarred every bone in his sinful 
body. The course of fiisting and prayer through which that 
priest was "put" by the Padre Cartine, if report speaks true, — 
midnight vigils, and noonday masses, — would have reformed 
Silenus, and made a saint of Bacchus. 

Nicaragua and Costa Bica together constitute a Diocess of 
a very ancient date. It was org«inized as early as 1626. For 
the period intervening between 1832 and 1849, the Bishop's 
chair was vacant ; but in the latter year Don George Vite- 
Bi y Ungo, once Secretary of State of Guatemala, and sub- 
sequently Bishop of San Salvador, received the appointment, 
and is now in discharge of its functions. I have already 
described him as a man of great intelligence, and polished 
manners. He has travelled much, and never fails to leave a 
fevorable impression on the minds of foreigners. Yet in the 
country he is accounted an intrigante^ and does not seem to 
enjoy the full confidence of the leading inhabitants, who 
nevertheless treat him with all respect and courtesy. While 
Bishop of San Salvador, he is said to have taken an undue 
interest in political afiairs, and this was the cause of his de- 
position from that diocess; for the people of San Salvador 
are quite as liberal in religion as politics, and will tolerate no 
interference in public affairs by the clergy, as such. They 
nevertheless concede to them the utmost latitude as individu- 
als, and while making no distinctions in their favor, make 
none against them. 

In respect to Education, both amongst the clergy and the 
people of Nicaragua, little need be said, except that the 
standard is exceedingly low. I spare myself the painful ne- 
cessity of writing upon the subject, by translating the follow- 
ing impartial passages from a private letter on this point, 
addressed to me by one of the best informed and patriotic 
citizens of Leon. A knowledge of their own deficiencies and 



892 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

wants, by any people, is indispensable to secure a remedy ; 
and the &ct that some of the best men in Nicaragua are 
looking the evils of ignorance full in the &ce, is one of the 
best signs in the horoscope of the country. 

"Education in Nicaragua," says my correspondent, "is 
generally much neglected ; particularly in the departments 
of Chontales and Segovia, where there are some towns with- 
out a single teacher of any grade. Here the elements of edu- 
cation are only taught, if taught at all, by the fathers of 
families to their children, in the evening before going to bed; 
but this instruction seldom reaches beyond learning them to 
repeat their catechism. In these places, as also in some 
others where there are teachers, it is a common thing for 
parents to send their children to the house of some poor 
neighbor, where they are taught the catechism, and to make 
certain pot-hooks, called writing. These apologies for teach- 
ers have no recompense beyond an occasional small present 
^ The mode adopted by them is to repeat the lesson once or 
twice viva voce^ with the children ; and their principal occu- 
pation consists in permittting the latter to do what they 
please, and in assisting them in doing it ! 

" In the towns where there are teachers, there are seldom 
more than one or two public schools ; in the larger places 
there are, perhaps, a few more, but unfortunately all of pretty 
nearly the same character with those above described. In 
these schools are taught only the fundamental doctrines of 
Christianity, reading and writing ; nor is this done in accord- 
ance with any good system, but generally by a process which 
is little better than a burlesque. The lesson is repeated after 
the master, simultaneously by the whole school, and it is 
difficult to say which shouts loudest, the master or the 
scholars; but it is always easy to tell the proximity of a 
schoolhouse, from the noise. The localities of these schools 
are generally bad and filthy, as is also the clothing of the 
scholars, which often consists of nothing more than a shirt. 



POPULAR EDUCATION. 898 

In some of the towns, as Masaja, Managua, and Gliinandega, 
the public schools are filled to overflowing, and as each one 
has no more than a single teacher, he can only bestow a very 
superficial attention upon the individual scholars. In these 
towns there are also some higher schools, in which Latin is 
taught, after the old method, painful alike to teacher and 
student, and generally with no result except the knowledge 
that Sefior Fulano has studied this language for so many 
years ! There are also, in these towns, phantom classes in 
what is called Philosophy, the extent of whose acquirements 
consists in studying badly, and understanding worse, some 
paragraphs in Lugdunensis. 

" Besides their public schools, both Oranada and Leon 
have each a University. That of Leon is oldest, having 
been founded in the year 1675. 

** In these Universities are taught the following branches : 
Latin and Spanish Grammar, Philosophy, Civil and Canoni- 
cal Law, and Theology. Lately a class in English has been 
organized in that of Leon ; and a class in both English and 
French in that of Granada. Of Mathematics and other cog- 
nate branches nothing is taught, nor scarcely anything 
known. The authority in Spanish is Alemany; in Latin, 
Nebrisa ; in Philosophy, Lugdunensis ; in Civil Law, Salas ; 
in Canonical Law, Devoti ; in Theology, Larraga. The time 
devoted to these studies is, to Spanish, Grammar, and Latin, 
two years and a half; to Philosophy, two years; Civil and 
Canonical Law, and Theology, three years. But many have 
not the patience to go through the prescribed time, and leap- 
ing over these various branches of study, succeed in securing 
their titles. There are priests, in orders, who have never so 
much as read the Padre Larraga I 

" In order to obtain the degrees and secure the tassel, it is 
not necessary to know much ; it is enough to have a general 
idea or two, to stand well with the professors, be able to 
pay the fees punctually, to spread a good table of refresh- 

60 



894 NICARAGUA—- NARRATIVE. 

ments, and to have a blazing display of fireworks. I have 
known instances in which the candidate did not answer well 
more than a single question, and yet obtained unanimoudy 
the degree which he sought. There are more Bachelors than 
men ; Doctors swarm everywhere ; and there are families of 
wealth and influence in which the tassel goes (practically) by 
descent I 

" The professors of Languages and Civil Law in 1850, in 
Leon, were very good ; but the professor in the latter depart* 
ment, occupied with other matters, has permitted his place 
to be very poorly filled by certain Bachelors. In fact, all the 
professors do but little ; principally because their salaries arc 
insignificant in amount, seldom exceeding $200 per annum. 
Their lectures are got through with very rapidly, rardy 
occupying more than an hour each, and are scarcely ever 
illustrated, or enforced by examples in point 

"Concerning the University of Ghranada, I am not well 
informed, but it is doubtless on about the same footing with 
that of Le6n ; or, if any comparison may be instituted, some- 
thing worse. 

" To the defects in the system of Education in Nicaragua 
is to be ascribed, in great part, the troubles with which the 
State hcos been afflicted. There is nothing practical in the 
lessons which are taught in the schools ; the studies are all 
abstract, and the fixedness of character and liberality of 
views which follow from a knowledge of the present condi- 
tion and relations of the world, an understanding of modem 
sciences, Geography, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mathematics, 
Engineering, etc., etc., are never attained. The men of 
education, so called, are therefore mere creatures of circum- 
stances and impulses, in common with the most ignorant 
portion of the population, and fully as vacillating in their 
ideas. Their education is just sufficient to give them power 
to do mischief, instead performing the legitimate office of 
truly comprehensive acquirements, that of a balance-wheel. 



SDUCATIOK IN NICABAGUA. 896 

What may be called the moral efiEeot of an education, that 
which contributes to form the character of the man and 
mould it upon a just model, is wanting in the system, or 
rather no-system, not only of Nicaragua, but of all the other 
^paaoish American States. 

"In Nicaragua, therefore, in the absence of teachers, 
methods, books, instruments, and of nearly all the elements 
of teaching, there is nothing which can properly be called 
education.' Not because there are no latent capacities or 
dispositions for learning amongst the people ; nor do I mean 
to say that there is a total absence of really cultivated and 
well-educated men. On the contrary, there a number who 
have had opportunities of acquiring education through the 
assistance of private teachers, or who have perfected them- 
selves abroad; but these are lost in the mass of ignorance 
and shallow acquirements which surround them. 

"In Leon, I may add, there are ten or a dozen schools, in 
some of which there is an average daily attendance of two 
hundred scholars. The highest pay of teachers is ten dollars 
per month." 

But notwithstanding the general deficiency in education, 
and the means of acquiring it, there exists a most laudable 

' " The books employed," says Mr. Crowe, " besides the gloomy charac- 
ter of their contents, are in bulk sufficient to discourage the most enter- 
prising child. They are four or five in number, consisting of heavy vol- 
umes, which make an antique collection, heavy and dry enough to dis- 
courage adults. First ' La Gartilla,' containing the alphabet, the forms of 
prayer, and the commandments of the Church, with no attempt at grada- 
tion. The second, * El Canon,' the third, * El Catecismo,' and fourth, *E1 
Eamillete.' All these, which are much larger than the first^ contain theo- 
logical definitions, digests of doctrines, creeds, holy legends, and devotional 
formulas, addressed to the Virgin and the Saints. Through every one of 
these the unhappy scholar is doomed to wade from beginning to end ; and 
so deep is his aversion to the task, and so great is the triumph when a 
child has overcome one of these obstacles to his progress, that the event is 
actually celebrated in his family by feasting."-^p. 287. 



896 NICABAGUA — ^NARRATIVK. 

ambition to secure its benefits. The States of Nicaragua, San 
Salvador, and Costa Rica, oflFer the largest encouragement to 
the establishment of schools of every grade. Under the old 
Confederation, during the dominance of the liberals, the 
most eflfective means were adopted to educate the people. 
The officers of the army and the subordinates of the Govern- 
ment, when not occupied with the immediate duties of their 
stations, opened free schools in the barracks of the soldiery, 
in the offices of customs, and the rooms of the general and 
local courts. The house of the National Government^ at 
the close of office hours, became an academy. But the sys- 
tem of education, as all the other plans of improvement 
originating with the Liberals, were suspended during the 
disturbances created by the Serviles, and overthrown when- 
ever and wherever the latter attained ascendancy. In the 
new career now opening before Central America, the subject 
of education claims and no doubt will receive the first atten- 
tion of the respective States. But nothing beneficial can be 
done without a complete abandonment of the old systems of 
teaching — old authorities and books, and the substitution of 
others adapted to the age, and the state of general knowledge 
amongst civilized nations. If creeds and catechisms are still 
required, let them be assigned their proper time and place ; 
they constitute no part of an education, and are chilling and 
oppressing in their influences on the youthful mind. The 
sooner this fact is not only understood, but acted upon, in 
Central America, the better for its people. 



CHAPTER XV. 

TfBIT TO THE CAPITAL CITY, MANAGUA — ^LEGISLATIVK ASSEMBLY; HOW TO 
PROCURE A QUORUlfc— EXECUTIVE MESSAGE — RATIFICATION OP TREATY WITH 
THE UNITED STATES — ANTIQUITIES — LAKE OF NIHAPA — ^HUERTAS — DIVIDING 
RIDGE — TRACES OF VOLCANIC ACTION — HACIENDA DE GANADO— AN EXTEN- 
SIVE PROSPECT — ^EXTINCT CRATER — ^ANCIENT PAINTINGS ON THE CLIFFS — 
8YMB0UCAL FEATHERED SERPENT — A NATURAL TEMPLE — SUPERSTITIONS OF 
THE INDIANS — SALT LAKE — LAOUNA DE LAS LAVADORAS — A COURIER — THREE 
MONTHS LATER FROM HOME — THE SHORE OF LAKE MANAGUA — ABORIGINAL 
FISHERIES— ANCIENT CARVING — POPULATION OF MANAGUA — RESOURCES OF 
SURROUNDING COUNTRY — COFFEE — ^INHABITANTS — VISIT TIPITAPA — SUNRISE 

ON THE LAKE — ^HOT SPRINGS OUTLET OF LAKE — MUD AND ALUGATORS — 

DRY CHANNEL— VILLAGE OF TIPITAPA — SURLY HOST — SALTO DE TIPITAPA 
— ^HOT SPRINGS AGAIN — STONE BRIDGE — FACE OF THE COUNTRY — NICARAGUA 

OR BRAZIL WOOD ESTATE OF PASQUIEL — PRACTICAL COMMUNISM — MATA- 

PALO OR KILL-TREE — LANDING AND ESTERO OF PASQUIEL OR PANALOYA — 
RETURN — ^DEPTH OF LAKE MANAGUA — COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO 
LAKES — POPULAR ERRORS. 

Althouh Leon is de facto the seat of the Nicaragaan 
Government, yet the framers of the existing constitution of 
the State, in view of the rivalry and jealousy which exist be- 
tween the cities of Granada and Leon, and in order to relieve 
the Legislative Assembly from the overawing political influ- 
ence of the latter, designated the city of Managua as the place 
of its meeting. The choice was in many respects a good 
one ;' M anagua is_ n ot only c gntr al as regards position^ Jjut 
its inhabitants are distmguished for their attachment to "law 
and order/' and their deference to constituted government. 

The task of getting together the members of the Assem- 
bly, which is comprised of a House of Deputies and a Sen- 



\ 



898 NICABAGUA— NARRATIVE. 

ate, is not an easy one. The attractions of the city of Mana- 
gua are not great : the pay is only a dollar and a half per 
diem, and such is the precarious cx)ndition of the Treasury, 
that this small sum is not always secure. Nor are there any 
profitable contracts to be obtained for friends, with contin- 
gent reversions to incorruptible members; no mileage to 
speak of; in fact, few if any of those inducements to patriotic 
zeal which make our citizens so ambitious of seats in the 
National Congress. As a consequence, it isjusually necessary, 
in order to secure a constitutional quorum for the transac- 
tion of business, to announce beforehand that a sufficient 
sum for the payment of members is actually in the Treasury, 
and will be reserved for that express purpose. But even 
this is not always sufficient, and the Government has several 
times come to a stand still for want of a quorum. An in- 
stance of this kind occurred during the administration of 
Gen. G^ierrero, who found himself for a week in Managua, 
with his cabinet officers around him, but utterly unable to 
act. The Assembly lacked two of a quorum, and precisely 
that number of members, elected from the city of Leon, 
were absent. They were the Licenciado Z., and the Doctor 
of Medicine J., men of mark in the country, but for a variety 
of reasons not then desirous of committing themselves on the 
measures of public policy which were to be brought before 
the Chambers. The Director wrote to them, stating the con- 
dition of the Assembly, and soliciting their immediate attend- 
ance. The lawyer excused himself on the ground of illness, 
and the doctor, because he had no horse, nor money for his 
expenses. But they mistook their man ; in a few minutes 
after their replies were received, the General had despatched 
two officers of the National Guard to Leon, and be!bre day- 
light the next morning the Licenciado was politely waited 
upon by one of them, attended by a file of soldiers, and in- 
formed that there was an-ox cart at the door, with a good 
bed of straw, in which the soldiers would carefully lifl him, 



HOW TO PROCURE A QUORUM. 899 

and where he would find the army doctor, to administer to 
his necessities during his journey to Managua. The Licen- 
ciado expostulated, but the officer looked at his watch and 
coolly observed that the cart must start in precisely three 
minutes, and dead or alive the Licenciado must go. The 
doctor was waited upon in like manner, with the information 
thiit the Director had sent his own horse for his accommoda- 
tion, and four rials (half a dollar) for his expenses, and that 
he had five minutes wherein to prepare himself for the ex- 
cursion I It is needless to add that the lawyer was suddenly 
cured, and that both he and the delinquent doctor duly 
filled out the quorum at Managua. They each tell the story 
now as an exceedingly good joke, but the General avers that 
at the time of their appearance in their seats, their manners 
and temper were far from angelic. 

The Legislative Assembly had been called to meet on the 
15th of September, to act on the treaty just negotiated with 
the United States, and on the canal contract which had been 
conceded to certain American citizens, xmder the conditional 
guaranty of their government. The hopes of the people 
were much elevated, from the nature of the subjects to be 
brought before the Assembly, and it was thought that the 
constitutional quorum would be got together at the time 
appointed, without resort to any extraordinary measures for 
the purpose of securing it. It was not, however, until the 
19th that we received official information of the organiza- 
tion of the Chambers, and we lost no time in proceeding to 
Managua, where Pedro Blanco had long before received 
orders to prepare a house for our reception, and to adopt 
efficient measures for the extirpation of " las pulgas." We 
left Leon on the afternoon of one day, and reached Managua 
during the forenoon of the next. Don Pedro had newly 
white-washed a house, occupying the " esquina," or comer 
opposite his own, and installed a couple of servants, in an- 



400 NICARAGUA — NARRATIVE. 

ticipation of our arrival. So we were at once comfortably 
provided for. 

The address, or message, of the Director. had been deliv- 
ered in joint meeting of the two Houses on the morning of 
our arrival, and everything was going on smoothly and har- 
moniously in the Assembly. It was, according to custom, 
delivered in person, to the two Houses in convention, and 
responded to by the President of the Senate. The subjoined 
passages from both the address and reply, for reasons already 
given, will prove of interest. The Director, SeSor Ra- 
mirez said: 

" I experience the liveliest emotions of joy in witnessing once more 
the union of the representatives of the Nicaraguan people, ailer the terri- 
ble tempest which has passed over the country, and which at one time 
threatened not only to subvert its liberties, but to destroy its very exist- 
ence as a civilized nation. Brighter days have succeeded to that period 
of confusion and fear, and we are now again enjoying the unspeakable 
blessings of peace. In view of this happy result, your satisfaction, Citi- 
zen Representatives, must equal my own ; and I am sure that the desires 
for the future happiness and prosperity of Nicaragua which swell my 
own bosom, and to which words are too weak to give utterance, exist 
also in yours. 

" We have undoubtedly arrived at a crisis in our national career. After 
unparalleled sufferings, heroically endured, our country has risen from the 
abasement to which many years of civil war and the ferocious passions of 
men had reduced ic But these evils have only passed away to give 
place to others scarcely less deploraljle, resulting from foreign pretensions 
and aggressions. From these it is our obvious duty, not less than our 
only safety, to solicit the interposition of some powerful and friendly 
arm. ShouUl this be generously extended in our favor, we may smile at 
the intrigues and harmless malice of the enemies of society and social 
order, which exist in our midst We may then look forward with well- 
grounded anticipations of a glorious future. We may tlien devote our 
energies to the development of our almost limitless resourct^s, to the pro- 
motion of commerce and industry, the revival of education, the improve- 
ment of our roads ami our navigable lakes and rivers; — in fact, to all 
those grand and useful objects to which no government, unless at peace 



ADDRESS OF DIRECTOR. 401 

with the world, and free from foreign interference and annoyance, con 
successfully devote its energies. 

" For this relief we need not despair. We may yet be called upon to 
make sacrifices to secure it; but it must come with the successful prose- 
cution of that grand enterprise of connecting the two great oceans, which 
is now occupying the paramount attention of the commercial world : — an 
enterprise which is not only fraught with immense results to trade, but 
which must work a total change in the political and moral relations ol 
all the countries of the globe ; the greatest work, not of this cycle alone, 
but of all ages. 

" As a direct and essential step toward the consummation of this grand 
enterprise, with its train of consequences so important to our indepen- 
dence and prosperity, I have the honor to submit a Treaty of Alliance, 
Friendship, Commerce, and Protection, negotiated with the Honorable 
Plenipotentiary of the great and enlightened Republic of the United 
States of North America, and a contract for opening a Ship Canal, con- 
cluded between the agent of an American Company and this Government, 
— upon both of which you will be called to act, in conformity with the 
constitution." 

The President of the Senate, Don Toribo Teran, re- 
sponded to this address at length. The tenor of his remarks 
will appear from the following passages : 

" Sir, this Assembly is actuated by the earnest desire of cooperating 
with the Executive in whatever shall promote the interests or the glory 
of the State ; and offers its prayers to Heaven for light and guidance in 
the discharge of its intricate duties. It desires me to felicitate you upon 
the wisdom and firmness with which you discharged the responsible duties 
of your position during the late troubli?s,. and which saved the State from 
the terrors which at one time impended on the political horizon. It con- 
gratulates you also upon the dignity and skill with which you have con- 
ducted the foreign relations of the country, which have raised it in the 
estimation of other and more powerful nations, and secured for it their 
sympathy and confidence. 

*' The efforts and sacrifices of the State in support of civil and social 
order have been great, but most happily successful ; the hydra of anarchy 
is crushed, and, so far as the internal relations of our country are con- 
cerned, we look forward to a peaceful future, and a rapid and constant 
progress. To foreign pretensions an<l the territorial aggressions with which 
we have been persecuted, and which are now the only sources of diaquiet 

51 



402 NI C ARAGU A — NARRATIVE. 

to the State, let us hope for the early interposition of that nation to which 
we have always been accustomed to look as a model for ourselves — a 
nation powerful, enlightened, and naturally called to defend our territory, 
in conformity with the great and glorious principle which it was the first 
to proclaim, and which finds a response in every American heart, viz. : 
that ' The American Continent belongs to Americans, and is sacred to 
Republican Institutions.' " 

It will not be out of place to add here, that both treaty and 
contract were unanimously ratified, at the earliest moment, 
after passing through the forms prescribed by the constitu- 
tion, — a proof of the confidence and friendship of the people 
and Government of Nicaragua, which we, as Americans, 
should never forget. The news of the event was everywhere 
received with extraordinary demonstrations of satisfaction 
and joy; and it is most earnestly to be desired that the hopes 
which it created may not, from the mistaken policy of Gov- 
ernment, or the bad faith of companies, owing their very 
existence to Nicaraguan generosity, give place to despair, and 
respect be changed into contempt, and friendship into hate. 

I had heard much in Leon of ancient monuments in the 
vicinity of Managua, and particularly of (In ancient Indian 
temple cut in the solid rock, on the shore of a small lake, 
amongst the lulls at the back of the city. I now learned that 
the lake was called Nihapa, and that upon the rocks which 
surrounded it were many figures, executed in red paint, con- 
cerning the origin of which nothing was known, but which 
were reported to be very ancient, " hechando antes la Con- 
quista," made before the Conquest. The next morning, 
having meanwhile procured a guide, we started for this lake. 
The path, for a league, led through a beautiful level coun- 
try, magnificently wooded, and relieved by open cultivated 
spaces, which were the hattos and huertas of the inhabitants 
of Managua. Nearly every one of these had a small cane 
hut^ picturesquely situated amidst a group of palms or fruit 
trees, in its centre, reached by broad paths beneath archways 



ROAD TO NIHAPA. 408 

of plantains. Here the owners reside when weary of the 
town. We overtook hundreds of Indian laborers, with a tor- 
tilla and a bit of cheese in a little net- work bag thrown over 
one shoulder, pantaloons tucked up to the thighs, and carry- 
ing in the right hand, or resting in the hollow of the left 
arm, the eternal machete^ the constant companion of every 
mozo, which he uses as an axe to clear the forest, a spade to 
dig the earth, a knife wherewith to divide his meat, and a 
weapon in case of attack. Passing the level country adja- 
cent to the city, we came to the base of the hills which inter- 
vene between the lake and the sea. Here, at every step, 
traces of volcanic action met our view, and the path became 
rough and crooked, winding amongst disrupted rocks, and 
over broad beds of lava. The latter extended down the side 
of the ridge, showing that anciently there had existed a 
crater somewhere above us, now concealed by the heavy 
forest. The eruptions, however, must have taken place 
many centuries ago, for the lava was disintegrated at the sur- 
face, and afforded a luxuriant foothold for vines, bushes, and 
trees. For this reason, although we knew that we had at* 
tained an elevated position, we found it impossible to see 
beyond the evergreen arches which bent above us, and which 
the rays of the sun failed to penetrate. The ascent was 
steep, and our progress slow, — so slow that a troop of indig- 
nant monkeys, swinging from branch to branch, grimacing, 
and threatening vehemently, was able to keep pace with us. 
We fired our pistols at them, and worked up their feelings to 
a pitch of excitement and rage, humiliatingly like the ebulli- 
tions of humanity. These amusing denizens of the forest, 
I frequently observed, seem annoyed by the presence of 
white men, and will fret and chatter at their approach, while 
the brown natives of the country may pass and repass, if not 
without attracting their notice, at least without provoking 
their anger. 

At the distance of about two leagues and a half from 



404 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

Managua, we reached wliat appeared to be a broad, broken 
table-land, the summit of the dividing range intervening be- 
tween the Lake and Ocean. We had not proceeded far, 
before we discovered a high conical peak, made up of scoriae 
and ashes, and bare of trees, which had evidently been 
formed by the matter thrown out from some neighboring 
volcanic vent Here our guide turned aside at right angles 
to our path, and clearing the way with his machete, in a 
few minutes led us to the edge of the ancient crater. It 
was an immense orifice, fully half a mile across, with pre- 
cipitous walls of black and riven rocks. At the bottom, 
motionless and yellow, like a plate of burnished brass, was 
the lake of Nihapa, The wall of the crater, upon the side 
where we stood, was higher than at any other point, and the 
brain almost reeled in looking over its ragged edge, down 
upon the Acheronian gulf below. Upon the other side, the 
guide assured us there was a path to the water, and there 
too were the rock temple, and " los piedras pintadas." So 
we fell back into our path again, and skirting along the base 
of the cone of scoriae to which I have referred, after a brisk 
ride of twenty minutes, came suddenly, and to our surprise, 
upon a collection of huts pertaining to a cattle estate. Here 
burst upon our sight an almost boundless view of moun- 
tain, lake, and forest. Behind us towered the cone of 
scoriae, covered with a soft green mantle of grass. Upon 
one side yawned the extinct crater with its waveless lake ; 
upon the other were ridges of lava, and ragged piles of tra- 
chytic rock, like masses of iron ; while in front, in the fore- 
ground, stood the picturesque cane huts of the vaqueros, 
clustered round with tall palms and the broad translucent 
leaves of the plantain. But beyond all — beyond the moun- 
tain slopes and billowy hills, shrouded with never-fading 
forests, among which, like fleecy clouds of white and crimson 
reflected in a sea of green, rose the tops of flowering trees, — 
beyond these, flashing back the light of the morning sun 



LAKE NIHAPA. 406 

from its bosom, spread out the Lake of Managua, with its 
fairy islets and distant, dreamy shores ! 

We left our horses at the huts, and followed a broad, well- 
beaten path which led to the point where the walls of the 
extinct crater were lowest. Here we found a narrow path 
between the rocks, barely wide enough to admit a horse to 
pass. It had in part been formed by man, probably before 
the Conquest, when, according to the early chroniclers, even 
these hills were thronged by a happy and industrious people. 
The descent for a few hundred feet was very steep, between 
high walls of rock. It then turned short, and ran along the 
fisice of the cliff, where feUen masses of stone afforded a foot- 
hold, and clinging trees curtained with vines concealed 
yawning depths and perilous steeps, which would otherwise 
have dizzied the head of the adventurous traveller. Near 
the bottom the path widened, and at the water's brink we 
reached a kind of platform, edged with rocks, where the 
cattle from the haciendas came down to drink, and whence 
tl e vaqueros of the huts obtained water for their own use. 
Here a few trees found root, affording a welcome shelter 
from the rays of the sun ; for the breezes which fan the hill- 
sides never reach the surface of this almost buried lake. 

The walls of the ancient crater are everywhere precipit- 
ous, and at the lowest point probably not less than five hun- 
dred feet in height. Except at the precise spot where we 
stood, the lake washed the clifl&, which went down, sheer 
down, to unknown depths. We looked up, and the clouds 
as they swept over seemed to touch the trees which crowned 
the lofty edges of the precipice, over which the vines hung 
in green festoons. 

Upon the vertical face of the cliff were painted, in bright 
red, a great variety of figures. These were the " piedras 
pintadas" of which we had heard. Unfortunately, however, 
long exposure had obliterated nearly all of the paintings ; 
bat most conspicuous amongst those still retaining their out- 



PAINTED ROCKS. 407 

rigines was artfully depicted so as to combine both symbols 
in one. The figure was about three feet in diameter, and is 
accurately represented in the accompanying Plate 1, Fig. 1. 
Above it, and amongst some confused lines of partially ob- 
literated paintings, not represented in the sketch, was the 
figure of a human hand, — ^the red hand which haunted ilr. 
Stephens during all of his explorations amongst the monu- 
ments of Yucatan, where it was the symbol of the divinity 
Kab-ul, the Author of Life, and Godof the Working Hand.' 
Upon some rocks a little to the right of the cliff upon 
which is this representation of the serpent, there were for- 
merly large paintings of the sun and moon, together, as our 
guide said, ** con muchos geroglificos," with many hiero- 
glyphics. But the section upon which they were painted, 
was thrown down during the great earthquake of 1838. 
Parts of the figures can yet be traced upon some of the fallen 
fragments. Besides these figures, there were traces of hun- 
dreds of others, which, however, could not be satisfactorily 
made out. Some, we could discover, had been of regular 
outline, and from their relative proportions, I came to the 
conclusion that a certain degree of dependence had existed 
between them. One in particular attracted my attention, 
not less from its regularity than from the likeness which it 
sustains to certain figures in the painted historical and ritual 
MSS. of Mexico. It is designated by FiG. 2, in the same 
Plate with the figure of the serpent already described. 
Upon various detached rocks, lying next to the water,. 

* Those who feel interested in the subject of symbolism a^ it existo(| 
amongst the American semi-civilized nations, or as connected with their 
religions systems, will find it illustrated to a certain extent, in my work 
entitled " The Srrpent Symbol and the WoRsmp of the Reciprocal Prin- 
cipi.es of Natctbe in America," in which particular prominence has been 
given to the worship of ihe serpent, so extensively diffused, and yet so 
enigmatical. These are subjects which it is not my design to dii^cuss in a 
popular work like the present 



408 NICvVRAG L'A — X ARKATl VE. 

beneath trailing vines, or but lialf revealed above fallen debris 
and vegetable accumulations, we discovered numerous other 
outline figures, some exceedingly rude, representing men and 
animals, together with many impressions of the human hand. 
Some of these are represented in Plate II. 

By carefully poising myself on the very edge of thi- 
narrow shelf or shore, I could discover, beyond an ad- 
vanced column of rock, the entrance to the so-called ■ xca- 
vated temple of the ancient Indians. I saw at once that it 
was nothing more than a natural niche in the cliflf; but yet 
to settle the matter conclusively, I stripped, and, not without 
some repugnance, swam out in the sul])hurous looking lake, 
and around the intervening rocks, to the front of the open- 
ing. It was, as I had supposed, a natural arch, about thirty 
feet high, and ten or fifteen feet deep ; and seen from the 
opposite cliflF, no doubt appeared to the superstitious Indians 
like the portal of a temple. The j>aintings of which they 
had spoken, were only disool orations produced by the fires 
which had once flanuMl up from the abyss where now slum- 
leered the opposing (^lenient. Our guide told us that there 
were many other jmintings on the clilfs, which could only be 
reached by means of a rafl or Ix^at. The next day 'SI, re- 
turned with a canoe from Managua ; it A'as got down with 
groat difficulty, and in it we coasted the entire lake, but 
without discovering anything new or interesting. 

We were told that there were alligators in this lake, but 
we saw none, and still remain decidedly skeptical upon 
that point, notwithstanding the positive assertions of the 
vaqueros. That it abounded in fish, however, we could 
not fail to discover, for they swarmed along the edge of the 
water, and at the foot of the clifls. This lake was no doubt 
anciently held in high veneration by the Indians ; for it is still 
regarded with a degree of superstitious fear by their descend- 
ants. Our guide told tls of evil demons who dwelt within its 
depths, and veugefully dragged down the swimmers who 



\. 




■ i 



Mk 



: I 






• fc 



SCrPERSTiriONS OF THE INDIANS. 409 

ventured out upon its gloomy waters. It was easy to im- 
agine that here the aboriginal devotees had made sacrifices 
to their mountain gods, the divinities who presided over the 
internal fires of the earth, or who ruled the waters. This half 
buried lake, with no perceptible opening, situated amidst 
melted rocks, on the summit of a mountain, with all of its 
accessories of dread and mystery, was well calculated to 
rouse the superstitious fears and secure the awe of a people 
distinguished above all others for a gloomy fancy, which in- 
vested nearly all of its creations with features of terror and 
severity, — creations whose first attribute was vengeance, and 
whose most acceptable sacrifices were palpitating hearts, torn 
from the breasts of human victims. 

It was past noon before we had finished our investigations 
at the lake, and we returned to the huts of the vaqueros 
weary, hot, and hungr3\ The women — ^blessed hearts the 
world over ! — swung hammocks for us in the shade, and we 
lay down in luxurious enjoyment of the magnificent view, 
while they ground the parched com for the always welcome 
cup of tiste. And although when we came to leave, they 
charged us fully ten times as much for it as they would have 
required of their own countrymen, yet they had displayed so 
much alacrity in attending to our wants, that we sealed the 
payment with as hearty a " mil gracias," as if it had been a 
free oflering. 

Our guide took us back by a new path, in order to show 
us what he called the Salt Lake. It was not an extinct 
crater, like that of Nihapa, but one of those singular, funnel- 
shaped depressions, so frequent in volcanic countries, and 
which seem to have been caused by the sinking of the earth. 
It was a gloomy looking place, with a greenish yellow pool 
at the bottom, the water of which, our guide said, was salt 
and bitter. The sides were steep, and covered with tangled 
vines and bushes, and we did not attempt to descend. 

There are other lakes, with musical Indian names, in the 
52 



410 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

vicinity of Managua, whicli closely resemble that of Nihapa, 
and owe their origin to similar causes. One of these occurs 
within a mile of the town, and is a favorite resort for the 
" lavadoras," or wash-women. It is reached by numerous 
paths, some broad and bordered with cactus hedges, and 
others winding through green coverts, where the stranger 
often comes suddenly upon the startled Indian girl, whose 
unshod feet have worn the hard earth smooth, and whose 
hands have trained the vines into festooned arches above his 
head. There is but one descent to this lake ; which in the 
course of ages has been made broad and comparatively easy. 
The shore is lined with large trees of magnificent foliage, 
beneath the shadows of which the "lavadoras" carry on their 
never ending operations. The water is cool and limpid ; and 
the lake itself more resembles some immense fountain, where 
bright streams might have their birth, rather than a fathom- 
less volcanic pool, so well has nature concealed beneath a robe 
of trees, and vines, and flowers, the evidences of ancient con- 
vulsions, rocks riven by earthquakes, or melted by fires 
from the incandescent depths of the earth. 

It was late in the afternoon when we returned from Niha- 
pa ; but whatever might have been the pleasure or satisfac- 
tion of our visit, it went for nothing as compared with that 
which we experienced in finding a courier from Granada, 
bringing us letters and papers from the United States, three 
months later than any we had yet received. Dinner was 
forgotten in the eager haste to learn what the great world 
had been about, all the time we had been vegetating amongst 
orange and palm trees in this secluded corner of the world. 
The trivial items of news which the dweller in Gotham, sip- 
ping his coflfee over the morning papers, would pass by with 
an idle glance, were to us momentous matters, and every para- 
graph of every column was religiously read, with a gusto 
which no one but the traveller similarly situated can appre- 
ciate. The newspaper is a luxury which the poorest day 



THBES MONTHS LATER FROM HOME. 411 

laborer in the United States may possess ; and the American 
would sooner deny himself his tea and coflFee, than the satis- 
faction of glancing over its columns, however dull, in the 
morning, or after the labors of the day are closed, in the 
evening. We missed many things, in Central America, 
which we had come to regard as essential to our comfort and 
happiness, but the newspaper most. Its place was very 
poorly supplied by the Padre Paul's little " Correo del 
Istmo," filled with government decrees, and published twice 
a month. It was in vain that we looked there for our daily 
home pabulum of "Late and Important by Telegraph" — 
" Terrible Catastrophe I" " Horrible Explosion, and Pro- 
bable Loss of Life !" served up in delectable fat type, and 
profusely seasoned with exclamation points. For three 
months we had not had our souls harrowed by the awful de- 
tails of murder, nor our hearts sickened by recitals of treache- 
ry, infamy, and crime ; knew nothing of what had followed 
the Astor riot, whether the struggling Hungarians were free 
or fellen. In fiict the great drama of life, with its shifting 
scenery, and startling denouements, so far as we were con- 
cerned, had been suspended, — the world had gone on, on, 
and it seemed as if we alone had been left behind, — ^though 
living, yet practically dead and forgotten. No romance, 
with its plots and highly colored incidents, in which fancy 
and invention had exhausted itself, could compare in point 
of interest with the columns of these newspapers, redolent 
with the damp mustiness of a sea voyage, and the tobacco of 
the courier's maUta, which we now perused in silence, by the 
aid of the tropical evening light, slowly swinging in our 
hammocks, beneath the corridor of Pedro Blanco's house, 
on the shores of the Lake of Managua I 

Towards evening all the women of Managua go down to 
the lake shore, under the plausible pretext of filling their 
water jars. And when it became too dark to read, we fell into 
the movement, and followed by a train of youngsters, mostly 



412 NIOAKAGUA-— NAKBATIVE. 

naked, also went down to the shore, which was enlivened by 
hundreds of merry groups — ^mozos bathing their horses out 
in the surf, and girls filling their water jars in the dear water 
beyond the breakers. At one point bushes were planted in 
the lake, like fish wears, between which women were sta- 
tioned with little scoop-nets, wherewith they laded out my- 
riads of little silvery fishes, jfrom the size of a large needle 
to that of a shrimp, which they threw into kettle-shaped 
holes, scooped in the sand, where in the evening light, leap- 
ing up in their dying throes, they looked like a simmering 
mass of molten silver. These little fishes are called sardinas 
by the natives, and are cooked in omelets, constituting a very 
excellent dish, and one which I never foiled to order when- 
ever I visited Managua. The first travellers in Nicaragua 
mention this novel fishery as then practised by the aborigines, 
and it has remained unchanged to the present hour. 

In returning through a bye street to our own house, we 
observed, within the open door of a rude cane hut, what we 
first took to be a large painting, but which upon examination 
proved to be a carving in wood. It was cut in high relief 
and represented, nearly of the size of life, a mounted cavalier, 
dressed and armed after the style of the fifteenth century, hav- 
ing in one hand a cross and in the other a sword. We were 
struck with the spirit and execution of the carving, which 
filled one entire side of the hut, and were told that it was a 
representation of Hernando Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico. 
The people in whose possession it then was knew nothing of 
its history, beyond that it had been in the hands of their 
family for more than seventy years. I subsequently inquired 
of the " sabios" or sages of Managua about the figure, but 
they could give me no information, except that it was very 
ancient, and, according to tradition, represented Cortez, 
Don Pedro Blanco and some others suggested that it might 
have been intended for Santiago, the patron saint of Managua, 
but gave no good reason for their conjecture. That it is very 



ANCIENT OAItTlKG. 



anoieiit appears from a variety of circumstaoces, and from 
none more clearly than the now half-obliterated paintingB 




which fill the panel around the figure. These, in style of 
execution, correspond entirely with the paintings made by 
the Indians immediately subsequent to the Conquest, and 



414 NICARAGUA — NAEBATITE. 

after their first acquaintance with the whites. They repre- 
sent disembarkations, and battles between monnted, bearded 
white men and naked Indians armed after their primitive 
fashion. Dogs too, are represented participating in these 
encounters, — mute witnesses to those atrocities which every- 
where attended the Spanish arms in America, and to which 
all the brilliancy of the achievements of Cortez, Alvarado, 
Cordova, or Pizarro, can never blind the impartial historian. 
Notwithstanding the popular tradition, I am disposed to 
regard the figure as a representation not of Cortez, but of 
Cordova, the conqueror of Nicaragua, or its first Governor, 
Pedro Arias de Avila ; perhaps of that daring Contreras who 
meditated the vast design of separating all America ^m the 
crown of Spain. 

A number of idols, obtained from Momotombita and other 
places, have been brought to 
Managua, from time to time, 
by the Indians, and planted 
at the corners of the streets. 
Nearly all of thom, hoi 
are small, and have been so 
much defaced as to ]>ossess 
little interest. But one par- 
ticularly arrest- 
ed my attention. ^^Vx 

It is set at one ^T^ ' 

of the corners of — ^^^ — 

a house, front '" "■'m^' 

ing on the little plaza of b'»n \ 
Juan, and is ver) well reprcstnt 
ed in the accompanjmg engravmg 
It projects about funr feet above the 
ground, and pro 
bably extends 




POPULATION OF MANAGUA. 416 

two or three feet below. In common with all others obtained 
from Momotombita, it is black basalt. 

The town of Managua now contains about ten or twelve 
thousand inhabitants, who live in the simplest manner possi- 
ble, manufacturing barely enough to supply their limited 
wants, and carrying on but little trade. The region around 
is very fertile, and capable of sustaining a large population. 
The hill-slopes, between the lake and the sea, are well adapted 
for the cultivation of coffee ; and the quality of that which is 
produced from the few estates existing there, is regarded as 
superior to the coffee of Costa Bica, which railks next only 
to the best Mocha. This valuable staple might be produced 
here to any extent, and at comparatively little cost ; but the 
condition of the country, and the general lack of enterprise 
amongst the people, have prevented attention to this, as well 
as every other bfanch of industry or source of wealth. 
There is no part of Nicaragua which, from its position, 
beauty, salubrity, and capacity for production, surpasses the 
district around Managua ;^ and here, it seems to me, is the 
most favorable point for the commencement of any system 
of colonization from the United States or fi^m Europe. 

This portion of the country was densely populated in 
ancient times. After the expedition of Cordova, it was an- 
nounced in Spain, that Managua was a city " nine miles 
long ;" and this report of its extent and vast population, 
amongst other things, induced Oviedo to visit the country. 
He seems to have been disappointed in respect to its size. 



' Capt Belcher, who was here in 1838, says of Managua, that " it suf- 
fered severely in the late cholera visitation ; losing six hundred out of 
the population of twelve thousand. Of this number it is rather remark- 
able that females between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, and prin- 
cipally newly married, were the predominant victims. Generally this 
place is considered as peculiarly healthy, the average deaths seldom ex- 
ceeding one per cent" — Voyage round the Worlds vol. i. p. 172. 



416 NIOABAGUA— NABRATIVS. 

and denounces the reports which had been made in Spaiiii 
as gross exaggerations. He nevertheless adds : 

'' It was inhabited by Chorotegans, and, to tell the truth, it was • 
beautiful and populous village, but so far from forming a city, was com- 
posed of isolated houses, at considerable distance from each other. Before 
it had been destroyed by war, it covered a great space, and resembled 
the villages to be seen in the valley of Alva, in Biscay, in Gallicia; among 
the mountains and valleys of Ibarra, where all the houses are in view of 
each other and occupy considerable room. This village of Managua 
esftends in a line along the lake ; but so far from having three leagues 
of extent, it scarcely has one. However, at the time of its prosperity, it 
was the finest place of the province, and contained 40,000 inhabitants, of 
which 10,000 were archers, or slingers. But when I visited it, six years 
after the Conquest, it was the most completely abandoned and desolate 
place of the government It now contains 10,000 souls, of which 600 
are archers. On the opposite side of the lake, is the domain of the 
Gazique, Tipitapa, which has an extent of six leagues, and 6,000 inhab- 
itants, of which 800 are archers. ' 

" In conclusion, from what I have heard from those who have visited 
this country from the times of Gil Gonzalez Davila to those of Captain 
Francisco Hernandez, the country was so populous that the inhabitants 
may be said to have fairly swarmed. But this is not the place to speak 
of the devastation of the country and the massacre of so many Indians," 

From Managua we proposed to visit the Rio Tipitapa, or 
Panaloya, the stream which connects the lake of Managua 
with that of Nicaragua, and which, from the constant refer- 
ences made to it, in all speculations concerning the opening 
of a canal, has been invested with peculiar interest. We 
accordingly engaged Yictorino, our patron in the expedition 
to Momotombita, to take us by water to the outlet of the 
lake, a distance of twenty or twenty -five miles. In order to 
have the entire day, or the greater part of it, to devote to our 
investigations at Tipitapa, we directed Victorino to be in 
readiness to start as early as two o'clock the next morning, 
thinking, from our past experience in native tardiness, that 
he would probably arrive at about four or five. But what 



SUNiaSE OK LAKE MANAGUA. 417 

was our horror, when he aroused us in the early stages of our 
first doze (for we had gone to bed late), with the information 
that all was ready I It was just half-past one ; and although 
I suspected that this early call was one of Victorino's practi- 
cal jokes, yet we had been too precise in our directions to have 
any good cause of complaint against him. So we dressed 
ourselves silently, and followed the patron to the shore of 
the lake. Here we found everything in readiness, and got 
ofi^, for the first time, at the appointed hour. 

As I passed through the corridor, I had caught up a 
blanket, with a vague idea of getting a nap in the boat, and 
after we pushed ofi*, wrapped myself in it with a chuckle, and 
lay down to sleep. But the blanket was saturated with 
fleas; sleep departed, and I was exercised in a most lively 
manner, for the rest of the night. The men rowed in silence, 
and the water of the lake looked black and forbidding imder 
the sable sky. It was with a feeling of relief, therefore, that 
I discerned the tintings of morning, in the east. First, a 
fiiint light revealed the outlines of the rugged mountains of 
Chontales and Segovia, followed by a yellow, then a rosy 
tinge, so feint that it might have been a mere fancy of the 
spectator ; then it deepened, and the clouds, with their glow- 
ing edges, and purple folds, disclosed their rich, deep masses 
above the rim of the horizon, while the lake flung back 
tremulously fi-om its quivering bosom the reflected radiance 
of the sky. Brighter and brighter, its rays shooting upwards 
to the empyrean, and glowing on the summits of the volcanoes, 
higher and higher, came up the monarch sun, until rising 
above the horizon, he shone forth on the queenly earth, its 
emerald robes sparkling with dew-drops, and gemmed with 
flowers. 

Our men had improved the time, and at sunrise we found 
ourselves within six or eight miles of the outlet, moving 
along half a mile distant from a low and densely wooded 

53 



418 NICARAGUA — ^NARBATIVE. 

shore. I thrust a pole over the side, and found that there 
was less than a fathom of water, with a soft muddy bottom. 
At various places I observed a slight bubbling on the surface 
of the lake, and a strong smell of sulphurous or mephitic 
gases ; and in others rose little columns of vapor, indicating 
the presence of hot springs at the bottom. * 

We finally reached what appeared to be a narrow estuary 
of the lake, extending between two low bars, covered with 
reeds, and literally alive with cranes and other water fowls. 
The boat was directed into it, but it was so shallow that the 
mud rose to the surface with every stroke of the oars. I 
found, upon sounding, only two or three feet of water, with 
about an equal depth of soft gray mud— the dwelling-place 
of numerous alligators. We proceeded up this estuary for 
three or four hundred yards, the water every moment becom- 
ing shallower, until finally we stuck fast in the fetid mire. 
The crew leaped overboard and sunk at once to their arm- 
pits in the slime. They nevertheless pushed us some dis- 
tance nearer the shore, and then, when the boat could be 
moved no furtlier, we mounted on their shoulders and were 
carried to the land. We found the shore low, but gravelly, 
and covered with grass and bushes. A clear little stream of 
tepid water flowed at our feet, and at intervals all around us 
rose columns of vapor from thermal springs. We advanced 
a little further to what appeared to be a bank, covered with 
trees, and then discovered for the first time that the estero 
extended down a broad and rockv but shallow channel, 
which had anciently been the bed of the stream connecting 
the two hikes. Xo water flowed through it now, although 
then* were pools here and there in the depressions of the 
rock, .sup])lied with water from springs, or from the rains. 
Clumps of bushes were growing in the dry channel, and 
amongst them cattle and mules were grazing. 1 can readily 
believe that anciently, during the wet seasons, a small quan- 



VILLAGE OF TIPITAPA. 419 

tity of water found its way through this channel, and over the 
falls, a mile below ; but nothing is more evident than that no 
considerable body of water ever flowed here. 

But if we were disappointed in the so-called outlet of the 
lake, our disappointment was more than compensated by the 
magnificent view which was afforded, from this point, of the 
great volcano of Momotombo, with its background of volcanic 
peaks, constituting the chain of the Maribios, and terminating 
with the tall Viejo, dim and blue in the distance. It seemed 
to rise from the bosom of the mirror-like lake, a giant guide 
to direct future navies across the continent from sea to sea. 
I could not help picturing the black hulls of great steamers 
trailing their smoky plumes at its base, and the white, cloud- 
like sails of majestic Indiamen, relieved against the purple 
of its arid sides. 

After following along the bank of the vanished river for a 
short distance, we came to a path, by which the Brazil wood 
collected on the shores of the lake is carted to Pasquiel, the 
first and nearest landing point on lake Nicaragua. A rapid 
walk of a mile brought us to the village of Tipitapa, a mis- 
erable little place, of some two or three hundred inhabitants, 
with a tumble-down church or two, and a drove of cattle in 
quiet possession of the plaza. We found our way, with little 
trouble, to the house of the principal officer, — I have forgot- 
ten his rank, — a disagreeable fellow, who made himself unne- 
cessarily offensive by one or two cross-grained attempts at be- 
ing civil. He hadn't the decency to offer us breakfast ; but 
that gave us little concern, for Ben had come supplied for con- 
tingencies, and had, moreover, a happy knack of pressing into 
his service many utensils and other articles of use which might 
come to hand. He despatched Victorino to the cura's for 
some milk, and helped hinLself to plantains from the garden. 
And after half an hour, which we had spent in drumming up 
horses, he announced a breakfast, if not fit for a prince, at 
any rate far from unacceptable to men who had started on 



420 NICAKAGUA — NABBATIVE. 

an exploring expedition at two o'clock in the morning. 
Through the aid of the cura, who was a fine looking man, 
with rather a singular expression, nevertheless, for a padre, 
we got horses for our ride to Pasquiel; and the cura, accom- 
panied by a young darkey who was qualifying himself for 
the church, volunteered to accompany us. We had brought 
no saddles, and were obliged to put up with " albardos" and 
wooden stirrups. Albardos were not in existence in Job's 
day ; had they been, he would have wished his enemy to ride 
on an albardo, rather than write a book. A savage critique 
in the Jerusalem Quarterly could not have " used up" Job's 
enemies more effectually than an " albardo" and a hard trotter. 
After riding for half a mile through deserted fields, now 
overgrown with tall, rank weeds, we came once more to the 
channel or river-bed, at a place called the SdUo or falls. Here 
the rock, which appears to underlie the whole region, is en- 
tirely exposed, worn into basins and fantastic pot-holes by 
the water. It seems to be a calcareous or volcanic breccia, 
and though not hard, is solid. Through this the hot springs 
find their way to the surface. The Salto is a steep ledge 
of this rock, from twelve to fifteen feet in height, extending 
entirely across the ancient channel, which is here not less 
than two hundred yards broad. Although it was now the 
middle of the rainy season, not a drop of water flowed over 
it. A little distance below the Salto is a stone bridge, the 
second one which I had seen in the country, and the only 
one in actual use. At the foot of its western buttress, upon 
the lower side, I observed a column of vapor, and descend- 
ing, found that it proceeded from a copious hot spring, from 
which flows a considerable stream of scalding water. It has 
formed a thick deposit upon the rocks and stones around it, 
the apparent constituents of which were carbonate of lime, 
sulphur, and sulphate of copper ; the taste of the water is not 
unpleasant, and, as observed by Capt. Belcher, is esteemed a 
sovereign remedy, " if taken by the advice of the padre !" 



PRACTICAL OOMMUNISH. 421 

From the bridge we rode along the eastern bank of the 
ancient channel, which below the fells becomes deeper and 
narrower, filled with detached and water-worn rocks, with 
here and there large pools of still water. We found the 
country level, with a soil of exceeding fertility, and dotted 
over with cattle estates. It is not densely wooded, but has 
many open glades, covered with grass, and affording rich 
pasturage. Here Nicaragua wood, or Brazil wood, is found 
in greatest abundance, and contributes materially to the value 
of the land. It is a tree which seems to require a rich, 
moist soil, and the absence of overshadowing trees of other 
varieties. Quantities of the wood, already cut and prepared 
for exportation, were scattered here and there over the 
savannahs. A ride of three miles brought us to the cattle 
estate of Pasquiel, one of the largest and most valuable in 
the country, belonging to our friend Don Frederico Derby- 
shire, of Granada. We were well received by his superintend- 
ent, who had seen us in Granada, upon our first arrival. The 
buildings on the estate consisted of two immense roofe, 
supported on posts, entirely open at the sides, and placed in 
the centre of a kind of stockade of posts. In a corner of 
one of these sheds, a nimiber of poles set on end and withed 
together, fenced off a little space for the beds of the mayor- 
domo and his spouse. Ailing calves, independent pigs, and 
multitudinous chickens shared the remainder of the accommo- 
dations, on terms of perfect equality and harmony with the 
children of the superintendent. Some large troughs, sup- 
ported on posts, to receive the milk in manufacturing cheese, 
and a couple of rude presses for use in the same manufac- 
ture, also mounted on stilts, completed the furniture of the 
establishment. There was enough of novelty in all this, but 
nothing particularly attractive; and as I suspected there 
might be a "smart chance" of fleas in the sand under the 
roofe, I declined dismounting, but rode beneath the shade of 
a gigantic tree, called the mata-palo, or kill tree. It has 



422 NICARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

great vigor, and preserves a dense green foliage during the 
dry season, when most other trees become seared. It starts 
as a kind of vine, and clasps itself around the first tree 
which it can reach ; and as it grows with astonishing rapid- 
ity, in a few years it entirely destroys the tree which 
raised it from the ground, and occupies its place. It does 
not run up to any considerable height, but extends its 
branches laterally to a great distance, and like the banyan 
tree, sends down new trunks to the ground, which in their 
turn promote its vigor and its growth. These trunks come 
down with their roots ready formed, and look like a nimiber 
of exceedingly bad brooms suspended from the principal 
limbs. 

From the houses of the estate to the landing of Pasquiel 
there is a broad open road. The distance is little upwards 
of a mile. This landing is at the head of an estuary running 
up from the north-western extremity of Lake Nicaragua, in 
the direction of Lake Managua, and which is about fourteen 
miles in length. It is part of what is called the Eio Tipi- 
tapa, but is, in fact, the Estero do Pasquiel, or de Panaloya. 
The actual distance between the two lakes is therefore but 
Uttle over four miles. The landing of Pasquiel is simply an 
open space on the bank of the Estero ; there was neither 
house nor shed, nor sign of humanity, except several large 
piles of Brazil wood, and the ashes left by the sailors' fires. 
The Estero, at this point, is about one hundred yards broad, 
and six feet deep. This is, in fact, about its average depth ; 
although in some places lower down, I was informed by the 
boatmen, it is as much as twelve and fourteen feet in depth. 

There was very little to see ; and so, after sitting on the 
shore for an hour, we started on our return, following a path 
which led along the bank of the Estero, with a view of deter- 
mining how much higher it extended. We found that it 
came to an end a short distance above the landing, as did 
also our path. But we had started to go through, and per- 



CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LAKES. 428 

sisted in our purpose. Between cutting, and stooping, dis- 
mounting and making a multitude of evolutions, we finally 
succeeded in clearing the forest, well scratched and smarting 
from rough contact with thorny bushes and prickly vines — 
for nearly every petty bush and contemptible vine in Central 
America is armed with thorns, great or small. 

Stopping for a few moments at a cattle hacienda, where we 
left the cura making love to the daughter of the mayor domo, 
we returned to Tipitapa. Our gloomy host of the morning 
had mustered up a little good humor. The secret of his 
civility, however, came out before we left; he wanted a 
guitar, a guitar with four strings, a guitar withal worth seven 
dollars ; and expected us to send him one of that description 
from the United States, which we, of course, promised to do. 
whereupon, in the fullness of his heart, he ordered his servant 
to assist Ben in preparing dinner. 

At three o^clock, we had recmbarked, and with a fair 
wind, were soon speeding our way to Managua, where we 
landed in the edge of the evening, well wearied with our 
day's excursion. 

In returning, I had sounded the lake, and found the entire 
bay in front of Managua exceedingly shallow. For nearly 
a mile out it was only about a fathom in depth ; and for full 
two miles further it preserved a uniform depth of about two 
fiithoms. That part nearest the old outlet of Tipitapa was also 
shallow, and for a mile and upwards from the shore, nowhere 
exceeded a fathom and a half in depth. The middle portions 
of the lake, however, are represented to be very deep. The 
full statement of these facts and of a variety of others, bearing 
upon the question of a canal route, are reserved for another 
and more appropriate place, when I come to speak specifically 
of the canal project. It is only necessary to add here, that 
the grossest ignorance prevails as to the dependence between 
the two lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, and the nature of 
the communication one with the other. The publications of 



424 inCARAGUA — ^NARRATIVE. 

« 

the British Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 
speak of Lake Nicaragua as flowing into Lake Managua ; 
and nearly all geographical works refer to the river Tipitapa, 
or Panaloya, as a considerable stream, navigable were it not 
for the Salto or falls, which is almost uniformly represented 
to be nearer Lake Nicaragua than to Lake Managua. There 
is also an error prevalent amongst the natives of the country, 
which has been inconsiderately adopted by some recent 
observers, that the lake of Managua has formed a subterra- 
nean outlet, or has subsided, from some unexplained cause, 
within the past fifteen or twenty years. There is, however, 
little or no reason for supposing that any material or percep- 
tible change has taken place in the level of the lake, or any 
diminution in its volume, since the period of the Conquest 
The early explorers represented the two lakes as entirely 
disconnected; and Oviedo, although combatting this idea, 
nevertheless describes the communication to be very nearly 
what it now is. He says that in summer little water flows 
through the channel, and speaks of the "canal," by wliich is 
undoubtedly meant the Estero of Panaloya, as only breast 
deep. That the level of the lake changes somewhat with the 
difiereiit seasons, I can myself bear witness. The evaporation 
on the twelve hundred square miles of surface which this 
lake presents, beneath a tropical sun, is nevertheless quite 
sufficient to account for the absence of water at Tipitapa, 
without entertaining the hypothesis of a subterranean outlet. 
A few days after, I was suddenly called to return to Leon, 
where I was detained by official business until the close of 
November. The events which transpired in the interval do 
not foil within the scope of my Narrative, and I shall conse- 
quently pass them by without remark. 



END OF VOLUME I. 







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